


The Good Life

by textuallyfrustrated



Category: My Mad Fat Diary
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Roommates/Housemates, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Roommates
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-26
Updated: 2019-10-02
Packaged: 2019-10-16 09:47:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 17
Words: 29,168
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17547344
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/textuallyfrustrated/pseuds/textuallyfrustrated
Summary: Living alone can be difficult (and expensive!) but Rae has had to find out the hard way that finding a decent roommate to live with is no easy feat either.Maybe, just maybe, Rae will get lucky and find someone that she may not mind living with...





	1. Chapter 1

“Do you want anything from the kitchen while I’m up, sweets?” Chloe asked as she walked across the room.

“No thanks. I just have one more person to call and then we can get started, yeah?”

Chloe shrugged and went into the kitchen, leaving Rae alone in the living room.

After finding the contact information from her email inbox, Rae entered the phone number into her cell phone and pressed the green phone icon to make the call.

“Hello?” sing-songed the voice that picked up the call.

“Uh, hiya! Is this Alex?” Rae asked tentatively.

“That’s me! How can I help ya?”

“My name is Rae, well technically Rachel, but I’ve been corresponding with you via email about the room that is for rent.”

“Oh, yes! I’ve been expecting your call! Did you have more questions for me?”

“I do, actually! Just a second,” Rae scrolled down on the webpage open on her laptop, skimming the page until she found what she was looking for. “So, I’m looking at the listing for the open room that’s for rent and it doesn’t mention having a private bathroom or how many bathrooms there are,” Rae trailed off.

“There is a master bathroom attached to my bedroom and a guest bathroom,” the voice on the other end of the phone call said in reply to Rae’s implied question, “If you are interested in renting the open room, you’ll be sharing the guest bathroom with three other people.”

“Three people would share the guest bathroom in addition to me?”

“Yeah! There’re two other girls and one of their boyfriends just recently moved in as well. So it would be the four of you sharing the bathroom at the end of the hall.”

“Oh! The listing didn’t mention that there were only two bathrooms. Is the monthly rent on your website listing for the room correct?”

“Yeah! That bedroom has a south-facing window, which has a really nice view of the neighborhood park, so it’s more expensive than the others. The price online also doesn’t include internet, cable, or any of those extra things that we divide up evenly.”

“Huh, I see…” Rae mumbled as she typed this information into the open note she had on her laptop with details about apartments she was looking into.

“Did you want to arrange a time with me and the others to come see the room that’s for rent? Or did you have any other questions?”

“I think that’s all the questions I had for you right now. I’m still looking around, but I’ll stay in contact.”

“Alright! That works for me. Have a nice day, Rachel!”

“You too, Alex! And thanks again for the information,”

After ending the phone call, Rae set her phone down on the coffee table in front of her and sat back on the couch, heaving a drawn-out sigh.

“Wow, that bad, huh?” Chloe asked from the kitchen as she finished getting herself and Rae glasses of wine.

“Well, it certainly wasn’t great,” Rae replied with a humorless chuckle, “but at least it wasn’t as bad as the girl that said the room for rent would be shared with her Burmese Python named Daisy.”

“I don’t know...after we met up with ‘goat boy’ who was trying to rent out his mom’s basement without her knowledge, Daisy started to seem like she might not be the worst roommate you could wind up with,” Chloe added causing Rae to smile and shake her head at the memory.

“She was kind of cute afterall, but she had no concept of personal space!”

“In all seriousness, maybe you’re just not looking in the right places, Rae-Rae,” Chloe mused as she handed Rae her glass of wine and set the bottle on the coffee table beside Rae’s laptop so she did not have to get up to refill their glasses.

“I’ve been trying to look everywhere, but nothing that I find seems to match what I’m looking for, I suppose.”

“I’m sure you’ll find something that works for you!”

“I appreciate your optimism, Chlo, but I’m not so sure. You remember how hard it was for me to find my current studio apartment, right? And that was without any type of time constraint or added stress. I just don’t know what I’m gonna do if I can’t find somewhere else to live. I’m barely making rent and all my other bills on time every month and since I had to add on another semester to finish my degree, I’m going to have to pay for the upcoming semester of Uni out of pocket. I can’t afford to not find a cheaper place to live and I can’t afford to live alone anymore!”

“Well you still have plenty of time, right? When was it that you said your lease was up?”

“I put in my 60-day notice yesterday, so I have until about mid-June to find something before I have to be out of my current place.”

“See? You have plenty of time to find something! Just keep looking around and I’ll ask around with some of the people I know at work and be sure to let you know what I find, alright?”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

“Of course I am! And if you’re still unable to find somewhere to live by the time you have to be out of your studio apartment, my offer still stands.”

“It’s very sweet of you to offer to convert the extra room in your apartment into a bedroom for me to live in, but if I moved in with you it would double my commute time to work, which is bad enough already. Not to mention, I’d feel like such a mooch if I lived here rent-free,” Rae said as she looked around at the upscale and modern decor of Chloe’s living room.

“Who said I’d let you live here rent-free?” Chloe joked.

“That’s very true. How rude of me to have assumed such a thing!”

“Anyways...that’s more than enough stress for you to deal with in one day, Rae-Rae! Now, let’s get back to our weekly movie night! There are cheesy romantic comedies to watch and this bottle of wine isn’t gonna drink itself!” Chloe replied cheerfully as she grabbed the remote to start the movie.


	2. Chapter 2

After adding another few songs to the queue on the digital jukebox next to the bar, Rae walked back to the table in the pub where the rest of her mates were sitting and arguing over something that had been said while she had stepped away from the table.

“Ugh, I’m gonna be sick,” Archie scoffed as he turned away from the sight of Izzy and Chop kissing across the table from him, “please save me from this saliva-filled make out fest unfolding right in front of me!”

“Oh Archie, let them have their fun! It’s just a little harmless kissing,” Rae replied with a chuckle as she took her seat at the end of the table next to Chloe.

“Perhaps, but when you’re single and have no one to kiss it’s easy to feel left out of the fun.” Archie replied, receiving a chorus of agreement and reassurances from the rest of the table.

Their conversations resumed as they continued drinking and catching up on what had been going on in their lives since the last time the gang all met up at the pub last month.

“Oh yeah! I’ve been meaning to ask ya, Rae, how is the apartment search going?” Chloe asked when there was a lull in the conversation.

“You’re looking for a new apartment? Is there something wrong with your current one?” Izzy asked in concern.

“Yeah I’ve been looking for a new place to live since January. My current place is just too expensive and the location isn’t great for work and Uni, so I’m trying to find something closer.”

“How’s it going then?”

“Not great. For the area I’m looking at, the cost of a studio or one-bedroom are as much or more expensive than what I’m paying now. If I want to pay less money for the area I want to live in, I’ll need to find a roommate. I’ve been looking online and asking coworkers if them or their friends needed a roommate or anything, but I just don’t wanna get stuck living with some complete rando that I’ve never met, ya know?” Rae sighed and took a long sip of her drink before setting it back on the table.

“Yeah, that makes sense,” Izzy replied.

“Do you need to find a roommate? What if you were able to find a place just for you where you could afford the rent?” Archie suggested.

“I suppose that would be an option, but I dunno...I’ve lived on my own for almost a year now and it has its benefits, but I don’t think I want to keep living all alone. It’s probably not good for me,” Rae added with a humorless chuckle.

“What do ya mean it’s not good for you?” Izzy asked quietly.

“So, what do you think you’re gonna end up doing?” Chloe asked a bit louder, leaving Izzy’s question to remain unanswered.

“My current lease ends in a bit over a month, so at this point I might end up just going with one of the few people I’ve met with already that seems halfway decent to be my roommate, since I don’t have much time left to be picky. I just wish that I knew someone that was looking for a roommate so it would take all of the weirdness of living with strangers away.” Rae said defeatedly as she gulped down the remainder of her drink.

A few seconds of silence passed between Rae and the rest of the gang, no one really knowing what to say, until the sound of a throat clearing distracted everyone from the dull roar of the other pub patrons around them.

“I could be your roommate,” Finn said with a shrug as he reached forward to grab his pint off the table and take a drink.

“You what?” Rae asked in surprise.

“I said I could be your roommate, Rae. If you’d wanna have me as a roommate that is.”

“I didn’t know you were looking to move out of your Da’s house, Finn!” Chop said.

“Yeah, where did that come from?” Archie added.

“I’ve been thinking about moving out and getting my own place for a while now, which is why I’ve been taking extra shifts at work, but I didn’t know when the right time was.”

“But why now, specifically? And how come I’ve never heard you mention anything about it until now? The last time I heard you say anything about moving out was when we were still in college and you were trying to prove that you could be independent and not rely on your da all the time,” Archie replied with an accusatory edge to his voice.

“Does it really matter how long I’ve been considering moving out? I didn’t mention anything because I haven’t really been looking for any specific places and I wanted to decide if I should live alone or with a roommate or a few roommates,” Finn replied defensively but he couldn’t stay upset for long before a smirk spread across his lips, “I’m sorry I didn’t ask ‘Uncle Archie’ permission to move out on my own.”

Everyone groaned at the mention of Archie’s old nickname for himself but the tension that had been present before had thoroughly dissipated. “Back to what we were talking about before...Would you wanna live with Finn, babes?” Chloe asked with her eyebrows raised in question.

“I don’t know...maybe? I’d prefer living with someone I know and I don’t have much time to find other people,” Rae turned her attention towards Finn more directly, “I think we get along well enough that we might actually make pretty decent roommates, don’t ya think?”

“I think so, yeah.”

“Okay, cool...well then, I guess I found myself a new roommate!”

The gang cheered and Finn gave Rae a small smile across the table, but Chloe sat beside Rae with her arms crossed and looking between her best mate and her best mate’s soon-to-be roommate with a look of uncertainty tinged with concern.

“That calls for a celebratory drink, don’t ya agree? I’ll go order us all another round!” Chop replied as he clapped Finn on the back and shot Rae a wink before walking away from the table to place their drink order.

When the gang had grown tired of the pub, they all decided to walk downtown to one of the few chip shops that would still be open this late at night. Archie stood at the door holding it open for the gang to walk into the chip shop, but Rae was stopped just as she approached the door.

“Hey, Rae! Can we chat out here for a minute? Just the two of us?” Chloe asked by placing a hand on Rae’s shoulder to gently pull her away from the rest of the gang.

“Uh sure,” Rae replied with a shrug as she walked back to stand beside Chloe.

“What did you wanna talk about, Chlo?”

“What the fuck just happened back there, babes?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well as of about an hour ago you were still struggling to find a roommate and now you’re planning to share an apartment with Finn?”

“Yeah, I guess so! It’s crazy how well that worked out, huh?”

“No kidding! It seems like it all worked out a little too well, if you ask me.”

“Oh, come on, Chloe!”

“No, Rae, I’m serious! Why is it that none of us have ever heard Finn mention moving out of his da’s house until tonight? Archie had a really good point. Why did he choose now of all times to move out?”

“I think you’re both reading way too much into all of this. I mean, what kind of ulterior motives could Finn have for asking to be my roommate?” Rae looked over and saw Chloe was about to speak but she waved a dismissive hand to stop her, “on second thought, I don’t wanna know.”

“I’m just looking out for you Rae.”

“I know, and I’m thankful for you trying to protect me, but I think you’re worried needlessly. It’s not like Finn is a total stranger. He’s been part of the gang since long before I joined and he and I are fairly decent mates. Even if we didn’t get along so well at first, we’ve gotten to know each other over the years and we get on really well now. I feel like of my possible roommates, he’s my best option.”

“I hope you’re right, Rae.”

“I have no idea what to expect from living with Finn or how this will all work, but I’m sort of okay with that. I’m looking forward to some much-needed change in my life!”

“Just know that I’ll always be just a call or text away if you need me. And I expect to be informed of any and all apartment decisions the two of you make during this whole process!”

“As if there was ever any question that I’d do that!” Rae replied with a roll of her eyes, “now come on! I’ve been craving some greasy fried food all week and there’s a plate of chips calling my name inside there!”

Chloe and Rae chuckled and shared a quick hug before the pair walked into the chippy and joined the rest of the gang at the table they were sitting at as they waited for the food they ordered to be prepared.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m fairly certain that exactly nobody was surprised to find out that Finn volunteered to be Rae’s roommate because if you all are anything like me, we’re all thirsty bitches and just love any type of scenario that puts Finn/Rae in the same settings hahaha. Both Chloe and Archie seem a bit unsure about Finn and Rae living together...do you think they know something that we don’t????
> 
> DUN DUN DUUUUNNNNN (sorry, I have a bit of a flair for the dramatic lol) Rest assured, this story will have a bunch of fun twists and turns based on some real life events, so hopefully this story won’t become too cliche.
> 
> If you read this, comment, leave kudos, etc...just know that I adore you! ^_^


	3. Chapter 3

Rae logged off of her computer and waited for it to shut off before standing up from her desk chair and stretching her legs after having been sitting down at work for most of the day.

“So, any fun plans for the weekend?” Rae asked.

“Yes, actually!” Anna replied, “I’m meeting a group of people at the pub for drinks once everyone gets off work in a couple hours.”

“Oh! That should be fun!”

“You’re totally welcome to join us as well, if you’d like. It’s gonna be a bunch of people from work and I think most people are bringing other friends or their significant others and stuff, so you’d be more than welcome too!”

“I appreciate the offer, but I’m already running late for my dinner plans as it is.”

“Rae Earl...do you have a date tonight? Who is the lucky boy...or girl, I don’t judge, I promise!”

“It’s not a date,” Rae laughed as the pair walked towards the staircase and began walking down to the ground level, “I’m meeting up with my friend that I’m going to be roommates with once I move out of my current apartment. We’ve been trying to meet up for a week in order to discuss all the logistics of our little arrangement.”

“Oh, damn...I was really hoping you had a date tonight. I can’t even recall the last time you went out on a date, Rae!”

“Excuse you! I go on plenty of dates, Anna, I don’t need your pity!”

“When was the last date you went on?” Anna asked in challenge as she held the door of the building open for her coworker.

“Uh...I think it was, like...whatever, I don’t need to justify myself to you! I’m just glad I finally found a roommate!”

“Alright, I’ll drop the dating topic for now. But as soon as you get your new living situation sorted, operation ‘get Rae a date or at least get her laid’ begins!”

“Ugh, you are simply incorrigible,” Rae replied with an eye roll, “Have fun at the pub and if Calvin tries to climb on the table and serenade Ronnie again, make sure that you get it on video and send it to me, alright?”

“Will do! Have fun discussing apartment stuff and being a boring adult!” Anna replied with a wink as she walked a bit further in the parking lot towards where she had parked.

Rae pulled out her cell phone as she climbed into her car and send a quick text apologizing for running late and letting Finn know that she was on her way before starting the car and driving to their agreed upon meeting location.

When Rae arrived at the restaurant, she could see Finn sitting alone in a booth on the far side of the restaurant, looking visibly uncomfortable with whatever the waitress was saying to him.

“Hiya! Sorry I’m late,” Rae replied with a huff as she sat on the opposite side of the booth facing Finn.

“Rae! You made it!” Finn replied with a visibly relieved smile as some of the tension in his shoulders dissipated.

“I’ll just give you two a moment to look over the menus and then I’ll come back,” the waitress replied curtly as she glanced at Rae before walking away from the table.

“I’m ten minutes late and you’re already chatting up other girls and trying to replace me, huh?” Rae joked as she took a sip of the water that Finn must have ordered for her before she arrived.

“Hardly,” Finn chuckled humorlessly, “She’s been talking to me about how she is sure that she knows me from somewhere but she can’t quite place where since before you texted me that you were on your way. You quite literally saved me from having to continue that conversation out of politeness for another minute.”

Rae chuckled as she picked up her menu and casually flipped through the pages.

“I’ve never been here before,” Rae said when she looked up from her menu and noticed Finn had not been looking at his own menu, “What do you normally get here?”

“I dunno. I don’t go here often, since it’s a bit classier of a place than I tend to frequent,” Finn muttered as he glanced around at the other patrons who were dressed business casual and sipping glasses of wine before looking down at his own more casual clothing, “but it seemed like the kind of place where we could hang out for a while and actually hear each other while we talk.”

“I agree, it’s nice and quiet here...sort of intimate and cozy, I guess, but I like it.”

“I’ve heard great things about their pizzas, so I was considering getting one,” Finn said as he opened his menu to the page listing their pizzas, “We can share a pizza, if you’d like, but I don’t know what toppings you’d want on it.”

“That sounds good to me. I trust your judgement and I’m sure whatever toppings you choose will be fine, so just surprise me!”

When the waitress came by, Finn placed the order for their pizza and the waitress left promptly to put in the order.

“So... I guess we’re roommates now or something, huh?”

“Looks like it, yeah, unless you’ve realized your mistake and want to change your mind.” Finn agreed with a small smile.

“You couldn’t be so lucky,” Rae replied, “Though I’m not sure how to feel about the gang’s reaction to us becoming roommates.”

“Well, I’ve talked to Archie since then and he said that he was worried about us moving in together because he mentioned that moving in with close friends doesn’t always work out or something. Like it can either work out really well or really badly but you won’t know until you’ve already committed. And I’m sure that Chloe was just looking out for ya and being over protective because you’re her best mate.”

“That makes sense. I’ll be honest, I wasn’t too certain about being roommates when you first brought it up, but now that I’ve had some time to think it over, I have a really good feeling this.” Rae said with a smile as she reached for her glass of water to take a sip.

“I’m glad. So, we have a lot of apartment and roommate related things to discuss, don’t we?”

“Yeah, we do. I have my laptop with me so we can look into some places online if you want to, but we should first sort out some of the logistics and stuff, yeah?”

“Sounds good to me. I’ve never looked for an apartment too seriously before, so I don’t completely know what I’m doing, but I’m sure we can figure this out.”

“This is my fourth time apartment hunting, so I know the drill!”

“Fourth time? Oh wow! I’m in the midst of a professional, it seems,” Finn joked.

“Damn right you are!” Rae added with a chuckle, “Back to the task at hand, move-in dates for the apartment. What are you thinking?”

“Well doesn’t your current lease end really soon?”

“In about a month, yeah, but I can always couch hop for a while if need be,”

“I don’t want you to have to do that. I’m ready to move in as soon as we find a place or whatever dates work best for you.”

“Alright...and just to be sure, you’re alright with splitting all our shared bills evenly, right?”

“Of course!”

“Good, just checking. I’ve had roommates before that weren’t so eager to pay their share.”

“That’s bullshit. I’m more than willing to pay my half of all the bills in addition to helping with any furniture or nonessential stuff that we may want.”

“God, you’re already one of the best roommates I’ve ever had!” Rae joked.

One of the other waitresses brought their pizza to the table and Rae and Finn continued discussing some of the basic information they needed to cover while eating, pleasantly surprised at how well-deserved the praise about the pizzas at this restaurant was.

When they finished eating and their plates had been cleared from the table, Rae pulled her laptop from her purse and powered it on.

“Do ya mind if I sit on the booth next to you so I can see what you’re looking at on your laptop as well?”

“Not at all. Come on over!” Rae replied as she slid further into the booth and angled her laptop so Finn would be able to see it as well.

Finn sat down beside Rae and scooted closer to her so he could look over her shoulder to get a better look at what was on the screen of her laptop in front of her.

“So what are some of your apartment deal breakers or things that you’d like it to have?” Rae asked once she had pulled up one of her favorite apartment hunting websites.

“Er, I don’t know. Suppose I never really thought about it,” Finn mumbled.

“Well, we know we’re looking for a two-bedroom two-bathroom, right? Close to the city...in range of our combined budget...that covers all the basics. What cool features would you like?” Rae asked as she entered those criteria into the apartment search options.

“Uh, a nice kitchen?”

“Do you cook a lot?” Rae asked with a slight tone of surprise in her voice.

“No, well not really, but I know that you do...”

“Oh! Well, you’re not wrong. I’ll add ‘nice kitchen’ to our wish list! I would also like to have some type of a balcony or patio area, if possible. Is that alright?”

“Of course, Rae, I want you to have a say in the apartment you’ll be living in as well. I’m putting my complete faith in your ability to find a decent apartment for us.”

“Challenge accepted,” she replied with a small smile, “I think we have a few decent options that we can look into more. Are you free this weekend to go tour a couple of these available apartments together or would you prefer that we each do that on our own time?”

“We can do it together,” Finn replied eagerly, “I’ll free up my weekend so we can go do this!”

“Okay, perfect! I don’t know about you, but I’m really starting to get excited about living together!”

“It’s not just you,” Finn replied with his signature crooked smile, “how about a celebratory drink to being roommates and making progress to getting an apartment together? My treat...”

“Trying to win my heart with offers of free booze? This whole ‘roommate’ thing might work out even better than I thought!” Rae joked as Finn left the table with a laugh to place their drink order at the bar on the other side of the restaurant.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know that this is yet another chapter of plot building and we're all anxious for the real fun to start, but I promise the boring stuff is almost finished. 
> 
> Coming up in the next chapter: Move-in day.
> 
> I've really loved all the comments that have been left on this story so far, so if you've read/commented on an earlier chapter, just know that I always read the comments and appreciate you for leaving the comment (I even may have replied to your comment, since I like to do that from time to time)! 
> 
> As always: if you read this, comment, leave kudos, etc...just know that I adore you! ^_^ Stay awesome, my friends!


	4. Chapter 4

The sun was already beginning to set as Rae and Finn arrived at the last apartment for rent that they had included on the list they made while having dinner the previous evening.

“Feel free to walk around the apartment and let me know if either of you have any questions!” called the landlord for this apartment from where he stood near the entryway.

Rae and Finn went in different directions to look around the vacant apartment and trying to make mental notes about what they thought.

“Hey, Rae! Come look at this!” Finn called from one side of the apartment while Rae had been looking at the bedrooms.

Rae walked into the other room and noticed Finn standing in front of a sliding glass door that led to the balcony of the apartment.

“Holy shit,” Rae muttered as she slid open the door and stepped out onto the spacious balcony.

“Does this fulfill your request for some type of balcony-like space?”

“This balcony is huge! And look at the view from here!” Rae replied as she walked closer to the stone wall of the balcony that overlooked the city.

“I think overall this may be one of the best apartments that we were able to tour today,” Finn mused as he looked out at the city beside Rae.

“I think so too,” Rae agreed, “I was getting a bit worried after the first three places were nothing like how they were described online, but this one and the last one have both been great.”

Rae and Finn went back inside the apartment and continued their inspections of the apartment.

“Did either of you have any questions for me?” the landlord asked when Finn and Rae had rejoined him near the entryway.

“I do have a question, actually,” Rae said, “Online it said that there were classic layouts available but you mentioned that this is an updated model. Does that mean that the price for this apartment will be different as well?”

“We are in the process of remodeling all of our apartments, actually, so the price listed online is the correct amount for all of our open layouts, since none of the classic layouts are going to be rented out anymore.”

“Oh! Okay, perfect.”

“I have a question as well,” Finn replied, “When is the earliest that this apartment would be available for move-in?”

“It’s available now, so once all the paperwork and official business gets sorted out, you would be able to move in if you would like to. If you’re not ready to move in yet, you could still secure your position by filling out the paperwork sooner rather than later and letting us know when you intend to move in.”

“Thank you!” Finn replied as he considered what the landlord had told them.

“Were there any other questions that the two of you would like me to answer for you? You’re more than welcome to continue looking around the apartment or touring the community if you’d like. I’ll still be available to answer any questions either of you may have.”

“I think that’s all the questions we had for you today,” Rae replied after looking over at Finn to ensure that he did not have any pressing questions, “Thank you for letting us take a look at the apartment. All the information you provided was very helpful.”

“I’m glad I could help the two of you out. If you have any other questions or would like to move forward with the paperwork if you’re interested in living here, please do not hesitate to call or email us,” the landlord added as he handed Rae a business card with the contact information printed on it.

Rae and Finn followed the landlord out of the apartment but continued wandering around the rest of the apartment community after thanking the landlord once again for his help.

“So, what’s your opinion of this apartment?”

“I liked it,”

“Did you ‘like’ it enough to picture us living here?”

“I’ve pictured living with you in the last three apartments we visited,” Finn said before stammering and clearing his throat, “I mean...I could picture us being roommates in the last few apartments we saw, but overall I think you liked this one the best. I guess the real question is, can you picture living in this apartment?”

“Yeah, I think I could see you and I living together here,” Rae replied with a small chuckle at the blush that crept back into Finn’s cheeks as her words sunk in.

“Uh, cool. That’s, uh, really good. I guess we can give the landlord a call tomorrow and arrange a time to sign all the paperwork and get that whole process started, right?”

“Yeah, that sounds good to me!”

Finn and Rae walked to where his car was parked and Finn began driving Rae back to her apartment.

“I’d say today was a fairly productive day! It took most of the day, but I’m really glad that we were able to find an apartment that I think will work out well for both of us.”

“I’ve gotta admit, I was feeling pretty overwhelmed at first, but now I’m just excited and ready to get this process moving along and actually move into the apartment.”

“That’s completely understandable.”

“So, do you have any fun plans for the rest of your weekend?”

“Well, it appears that I’m gonna be moving sooner rather than later, so I should probably finish packing up my current apartment so I’ll be ready to move once all the paperwork goes through for the apartment.”

“Oh,”

“Why? Do you have plans?”

“I was just gonna say that I’m going to need to get some new furniture because my da wants to turn my current room into a guest bedroom, so I was going to ask if you wanted to join me for some furniture shopping, but I’m sure you’ll be pretty busy all day with packing, so never mind,”

“I’d love to come furniture shopping with you, Finn! We could also look around for some furniture and decorations for the common areas of the apartment.”

“Oh, okay, perfect,” Finn replied with a smile as he pulled into a parking space in front of Rae’s apartment building, “I’ll text you tomorrow to find a time that would work for you to go look at furniture, alright?”

“Yeah, that’s fine with me. Have a nice night, Finn, and I’ll see you tomorrow!” Rae replied as she climbed out of Finn’s car.

“See you tomorrow, Rae!” Finn replied as he waited for Rae to unlock the door of her apartment before driving away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I initially wanted to make the previous chapter the last one before they *officially* become roommates and this chapter was combined with the previous one, but I didn’t like how it flowed so I broke them into two chapters, which I like a lot more. I had a lot of unexpected time to write this week, so I’ve gotten a decent start on the chapters to come and I really like them and think they are a lot of fun, so hopefully you all agree with me and enjoy where this story is going? Maybe...perhaps?
> 
> Truth be told, idk exactly where I want this story to go in the grand scheme of things quite yet, but with each chapter I’m planning and reading the responses from readers and trying to determine what I want to do/what y’all expect I’m gonna do and try to make things feel fun and new...fingers crossed that I don’t fuck it up! ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯


	5. Chapter 5

The bell to the lift chimed as the metal doors slowly slid open, signaling that they had reached their desired floor, and Finn stepped aside to allow Rae to walk out first.

“I still can’t believe that we’re on the fifth floor of the building!” Rae mused as she looked over the railing outside of the lift that overlooked one of the busy city streets.

“It’s a good thing neither of us are scared of heights, huh?” Finn joked as he adjusted his grip on the large box he was carrying in his arms.

Finn and Rae turned left after exiting the hallway with the lift, already becoming familiar with navigating the building after following the same path numerous times.

When Finn stopped in front of one of the doors, he turned to look at Rae, who was lagging behind slightly as she walked leisurely to take in the view from the top floor of the building.

“Do you have the keys, Finn, or do I?”

“I do, but I can’t get to them with this box,” Finn replied.

“Do ya want me to take the box from you?”

“No, it’s pretty heavy,” Finn replied with a slight grunt as he adjusted his grip on the box to prove his point, “but can you get the keys out of my pocket?”

“Er, sure...which pocket?”

“Back left pocket of my jeans,” Finn said as he angled his body towards her so she could easily reach his pocket.

“Alright,” Rae replied as she hesitantly reached her hand into the pocket of Finn’s jeans to grab the set of keys.

“Uh, sorry,” Finn replied sheepishly when Rae pulled the keys out of his pocket and it elicited an unexpected giggle from him, “that tickled more than I expected.”

Rae laughed and shook her head, but stepped in front of Finn to unlock the door and allow him to walk inside first.

Once inside the door, Finn walked into the large open space that would eventually resemble a living room and placed the box he was carrying beside the other tall stacks of boxes.

“Was that the last box?” Finn asked over his shoulder as he restacked some of the boxes to reduce some of the clutter.

“Indeed! Who knew that between the two of us, we’d have so much stuff?” Rae asked with a laugh as she looked around the room at dozens of cardboard boxes that had been piled haphazardly around the room.

“I don’t know about you, but I’m very proud of how efficient we were today. We got all your stuff and my stuff packed into the moving truck and got it all brought up to the apartment all in a matter of hours!”

“That’s pretty impressive! We make a good team, huh?” Rae asked as she walked to stand beside Finn and bumped his hip with hers playfully.

“We absolutely do,” Finn replied as he wrapped an arm around Rae’s shoulders and pulled her slightly closer, “I think we deserve to reward our hard work. We should order some takeaway since we have no food here yet and then after we’ve eaten if we feel up to it, we can start unpacking boxes. What do you think about that?”

“I think it’s a great idea. I’ll order and you can go pick it up, if that’s alright with you? What do you want to eat?”

“Of course! I don’t have a preference, I’m just starving and would like a lot of food,” Finn added with a smile as he walked away.

Rae called in their takeaway order while Finn reorganized the boxes against the perimeter of the room to ensure that they had a clear path to walk around without tripping.

“Alright, our order should be ready in less than half an hour. I ordered from the Chinese restaurant just down the street because their online reviews looked really good. I hope that’s alright with you.”

“It’s great, thank you. I’ll leave to go pick it up as soon as I find my keys again,” Finn replied with a nervous chuckle.

“Your keys are on the kitchen counter,” Rae replied with a fond smile at Finn’s forgetfulness, “Do you want me to try to find some plates and utensils in one of these boxes while you’re gone?”

“Yeah, that’d be great!”

Once Finn grabbed his keys, wallet, and phone off of the counter where he had left them, he left to go pick up their takeaway order.

Rae searched through the stacks of boxes trying to find whatever she thought Finn and she would need to eat their takeaway and before long she heard the door unlock and Finn walking through the door.

“Sorry if I took longer than you expected. I, uh, wanted to--what is this?”

Rae beamed with pride at the look of surprise on Finn’s face when he walked into the living room to see a small lamp on top of a short stack of boxes to subtly light the room as well as a pile of pillows and blankets strategically arranged to make the floor more comfortable to sit on, since the couch they had bought online wouldn’t be delivered until next weekend.

“I was looking for the boxes with dishes in them and I got a little carried away,” Rae replied with a shrug as she walked up to take the bags of food from Finn.

“Well it looks great! I thought it seemed appropriate that we mark the occasion today with a drink,” Finn replied as he pulled a pack of beer from one of the bags Rae had placed on the kitchen counter, “so I picked this up too. I know it’s not champagne or anything fancy, but...”

“Don’t worry about it. Champagne is disgusting anyways,” Rae replied with a chuckle as she continued unpacking the bags of takeaway containers onto the counter.

“We can go ahead and serve ourselves food and then I also have my laptop here if you wanted to watch something or listen to music while we eat.”

“I don’t feel like paying close attention to anything, so maybe we can just put on some music?” Rae suggested.

After they had served themselves plates full of various entrees, noodles, and sautéed vegetables, Rae sat down on the pile of pillows and blankets as Finn grabbed his laptop to put on one of his many playlists to listen to in the background.

“It’s crazy to think how quickly everything has moved. I mean, less than a month ago I was panicking about how I was going to find a roommate and a little over a week ago we were barely starting to tour potential apartment!” Rae mused as she ate.

“No kidding! If you’d told me over a month ago that I would have moved out of my Da’s house and be living with you, I wouldn’t ever believe it,”

“Oh wow! Thanks, Finn!” Rae scoffed.

“That’s not what I meant! I just meant that I wasn’t serious about moving out until I found out how badly you needed to find a roommate. Even when I first suggested it, it was just a spur of the moment kind of thing. I couldn’t even fathom why you had agreed to be my roommate, if I’m being honest.”

“Well I’m glad that this whole thing worked out as well as it has so far!”

“Me too, Rae!” Finn replied as he lifted his can of beer into the air in cheers.

The pair continued eating and talking until both were completely stuffed and pleasantly buzzed on cheap beer.

“Wow,” Rae began after a long yawn, “I’m so exhausted!”

“I know what you mean! After lifting all those boxes, I’m sure both our arms are gonna be sore tomorrow.”

Rae leaned over to place both of their now-empty plates on top of one of the nearby boxes. When she sat back, Rae angled her body so she was leaning into Finn’s side.

She looked over at him, silently asking if that was okay, and while he looked a bit surprised, he didn’t hesitate to wrap his arm around her in a loose embrace.

“I don’t want to unpack boxes tonight. I have the day off of work tomorrow as well, so I’ll unpack tomorrow while you’re at work.”

“I can’t let you unpack everything alone! I’ll play hooky from work and stay here to unpack with you,” Finn replied.

“You don’t have to!”

“No, but I want to.”

“Alright,” Rae replied with a small smile as she allowed her eyes to slowly drift shut as they continued talking and listening to music.

When Finn stood from the ground and grabbed the dirty dishes to wash, he looked back to see Rae curled up on the pile of blankets, scrolling through her phone.

“Did you want another beer before I put them in the fridge?” Finn asked from the kitchen after he had finished washing their dishes and setting them aside to dry.

When he did not get a response, Finn walked out into the living room and was surprised to see Rae asleep on the pile of blankets, snoring lightly.

Finn chuckled quietly, walking back into the kitchen only long enough to turn off the light and returned to the living room.

Finn grabbed Rae’s phone from beside her face where she was laying down and set it on the box closest to her so she could easily find it in the morning.

With all of their larger furniture being delivered over the next week, Finn and Rae had already determined that they would be sleeping on the floor for the foreseeable future, so Finn simply unfolded one of the blankets that Rae was not laying on top of and covered her up with it. Finn considered his options for just a moment before shrugging and laying down on the pile of blankets and pillows in the space beside Rae and allowed the dizzying combination of exertion and excitement to lull him into a state of much needed sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay! Move-in day is over and Finn and Rae are OFFICIALLY roommates! I know this point took a while to build up to, so I made a point to make this chapter extra cute and show how quickly Rae and Finn are getting used to the idea of living together and how adorably domestic these two idiots are even though they’ve only lived together less than a day.
> 
> The cuteness has only just begun and even just based on the chapters that I’ve already written or mapped out, there is a lot of fun shenanigans in the upcoming chapters. I know the last couple chapters have been super dialogue-heavy between Rae and Finn, but in the future chapters I’m bringing the gang back and we’ll get to see how the gang feels about the Rae/Finn living situation now that more time has passed...


	6. Chapter 6

Rae moved things around haphazardly on her desk trying to find the source of the loud ringing that had interrupted the music that had been playing through the wireless speakers on Rae’s desk.  
“Hello!” Rae said when she found her phone and answered it moments before it would have automatically gone to voicemail.  
“There you are, Rae-Rae! I wasn’t sure that you were gonna pick up the phone,” Chloe replied on the other end of the phone call.  
“Sorry, I’ve been unpacking the last couple boxes in my bedroom all day since I got back from work this morning and I guess my phone got lost on my desk during the process.”  
“No need to apologize! It’s just been a while since I’ve heard from you and I wanted to know if you were free to video chat? If my memory serves me right, you still owe me a brief tour of your apartment!”  
“Yeah, now’s a good time for me. I’ll go ahead and end this call and you can video call me and I’ll answer on my laptop.”  
Rae and Chloe each ended the call on their side and Rae walked over to her bed to unplug her laptop and get ready to answer the video call from Chloe.  
After a few minutes, a shrill ringing sound came through the speakers on Rae’s laptop and Chloe’s contact picture appeared on the screen with the option to accept or deny the video call.  
“Hiya Chloe!” Rae said cheerfully as she answered the video call and saw her best mate appear on the screen.  
“Hey babes! How are you today? You look exhausted!”  
“Wow, thanks Chloe,” Rae replied with an eye roll, “I am pretty tired. Work today was really long and boring. Moving and unpacking and whatnot has also been really tiring. I turned in my keys to my old apartment on Friday, so I’m officially completely moved out of that apartment, but going back and forth between the two different places for the last week or two has been super hectic.”  
“I can definitely understand that, but at least you’re done now! You mentioned that you finished unpacking all your boxes here at the new place though, right?  
“Yeah, just before you called me. I’m still trying to figure out where exactly to put some of the stuff, but at least I have space to walk around my bedroom without all these boxes in the way.”  
“So, what do you say? Can I get the unofficial grand tour of the place or what?”  
“Yeah, of course!” Rae replied with a chuckle as she picked up her laptop and walked out of her bedroom, “I’ll start by our front door and then I’ll end back in my bedroom again.”  
Rae walked through each room of the apartment, stopping to angle her laptop camera at specific things that she wanted Chloe to see and telling Chloe about what they intend to put in each room if they had not already. Rae paid special attention to showing Chloe how nice the kitchen was and how spacious their balcony was, hoping that her best mate would like her new apartment as much as she did.  
“So here in the living room we have the couch we bought together and the TV from my old apartment. It still works fine, so Finn and I decided that we might as well keep it out here,” Rae explained as she walked around the room, “And here we have one of my other favorite things about this apartment...the fireplace!”  
“You guys have a fireplace? That’s gonna be so nice when it gets old in the evenings in a few months!”  
“I know! I don’t know how to use it yet, because it’s electric, but I’m excited to figure it out so then we can use it!”  
Rae walked back to her bedroom to conclude the brief apartment tour and took a seat on her bed with her back against the wall.  
“So, what do you think of the apartment?”  
“I love it! It looks really nice and I think it’s going to be really good for you and Finn,” Rae hummed her agreement and Chloe continued, “Speaking of, how are things going between you and Finn so far? Is the whole ‘roommates’ thing working out for you two?”  
“It’s been great so far. He’s been a lot of help with unpacking and we’ve done a lot of shopping for things in the common rooms together. It’s been a lot of fun to just hang out and bond as roommates as we get into the groove of living with each other.”  
“Oh, come on, Rae! There has to be something about him that you’re realizing is annoying about Finn now that you’re living with him. Does he snore? Is he shit about cleaning his dishes? There has to be something!”  
“Uh, I dunno...he leaves the air on really cold sometimes so at night I need extra blankets or I get too cold.”  
“That’s it?”  
“I suppose so, or at least I can’t think of anything else right now,” Rae added with a shrug, “We’ve been getting along pretty well so far and haven’t really run into any issues thus far.”  
“Well, just keep an eye on him and let me know if he gives you any trouble and if he does, I’m gonna make his life a living hell.”  
“I appreciate that Chloe, but I wouldn’t hold my breath waiting for him to slip up!”  
“Anyways...are you both still on for the pub on Friday night? All of the gang has been anxious to hear more about how the apartment is working out and to see how the both of you are adjusting to roommate life.”  
“Yeah, we should both be able to make it, I think!”  
“Alright well, I guess I’ll let you go now. I’ll talk to you la—”  
The sound of the front door of the apartment unlocking and opening pulled both Rae and Chloe away from their conversation.  
Finn stepped through the front door of the apartment and hung his keys on the hook on the wall and walked down the hallway.  
“Hiya!” Rae called to him through the open door of her bedroom.  
“Honey, I’m home!” Finn sing-songed as he leaned against the frame of Rae’s door and gave her a wide grin.  
“Ugh stop,” Rae balked in fake disgust.  
“You know you loved it,” Finn replied with a chuckle, “Sorry, I’ve always seen people do that in shows and movies and I’ve secretly always wanted to do it too.”  
“Was it as much fun as all the old shows make it seem?”  
“It kind of was.”  
“Well, I’m glad. I was just finishing up a video call with Chloe! Say ‘hi’ Chloe!” Rae said as she angled her laptop screen towards Finn so Chloe could see him.  
“Oh! Hey Chloe!”  
“Um, hi Finn!”  
“I’ll just let you two get back to your conversation now. Sorry for interrupting!” Finn replied as he walked away from Rae’s open door and walked into his bedroom across the hall.  
“Rae, is Finn gone now?”  
“Er, yeah…”  
“Good...what the fuck was that?” Chloe whisper-yelled.  
“Oh, are ya talking about Finn’s greeting? That was just a joke.”  
“Are ya sure?”  
“Yes, I’m sure, Chloe. I have to go now, I’ll talk to you later, alright?”  
Chloe was still talking when Rae laughed and ended the video call with an eye roll.  
“Knock-knock,” Finn said as he tapped lightly on Rae’s bedroom door with his fist.  
“What’s up, Finnley?”  
“I just wanted to see if you were still talking to Chloe or not,”  
“Nope! I just ended the call. Why?”  
“Are we still on for Thai takeaway and shitty scary movies tonight?”  
“Obviously! It is Thai food Thursday, after all.”  
“Perfect, I’ll call in the order!” Finn replied with a wide smile as he turned away from Rae room and walked down the hallway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At the end of the last chapter I said I was going to move away from dialogue-heavy chapters a bit, but I completely lied lol. I didn’t mean to lie, but this chapter came along pretty easily and just so happened to be pretty dialogue-heavy, so oops ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯ I guess we’ll just have to wait and see what the next few chapters have in store for us!
> 
> Also, thank you so much to everyone that has been reading this story, has left kudos, has commented on the story, etc. Seeing that you all are enjoying this story as much as you are never fails to make me smile. ^_^


	7. Chapter 7

The final beats of the song faded away and there was a brief moment of quiet before yet another rap song that Rae did not recognize began flowing through the speakers that had been strategically arranged around the entire house.  
Rae glanced down at the bottle of cider she had been nursing as she stood near the couch, catching up with a few of the people that she had not seen in a while, and was disappointed to see that it was nearly empty.  
“So, Rae…I’m guessing you’re not a fan of this music either, huh?” Archie asked as he walked to stand next to her.  
“Is it that obvious?” Rae asked with a chuckle as she swirled the liquid in the bottle she was holding and drank the last of it in a single gulp, “I don’t listen to very much rap. It’s just not really my scene, ya know?”  
“That makes sense. I like some rap music, but this is just shit, honestly. I have no clue who is controlling the music, but I know it’s not Izzy or Chop!”  
“Yeah, they value my friendship with them far too much to think playing this music is acceptable,” Rae joked, “Speaking of which…where are the two love birds right now? I haven’t seen them around since I first got here.”  
“Izzy and Chloe left with a group of people about half an hour ago to go get some food. I think Chop and some of the lads might be out back smoking.”  
“Ah, I see,”  
“Oh, and uh—Chop and Izzy broke up earlier this week.”  
“Again?”  
“Again.”  
“Do you know what happened this time?”  
“Not a clue. They’re still talking and still seem on really good terms this time, but after the fourth or fifth break up, I honestly just stopped asking why they broke up.”  
Archie rolled his eyes and chuckled lightly as he took a sip from his red plastic cup. As much as Rae loved both Izzy and Chop and considered both of them among her closest friends, they were everybody’s favorite on-again-off-again couple and it was nearly impossible to keep up with the changes in their relationship dynamic.  
“Do you know whose birthday this is a party for? All I know is that Chop invited me to the party, but I have no clue why exactly there’s a party tonight in the first place.”

“I think it’s Julie’s birthday. Or maybe her birthday was the last party Chop host. I’m not sure either. I feel like everyone just uses Chop’s house for the go-to party location because he has a house and roommates that don’t mind the noise and everyone else lives in apartments or doesn’t have enough space to throw a proper party, ya know?”

“Yeah, that makes sense,” Rae replied with a laugh.

As a new group of people walked into the room, narrowly avoiding running into the people that were leaving that room at the same time, Rae could hear loud cheers and applause flowing through the door to the backyard.

“Do you think we should go out back to check out what all the noise is about?” Rae asked as she nodded towards the open door on the other side of the room.

“I suppose we could use from fresh air. There’s too many people in here right now anyways,” Archie replied with a shrug.

Archie and Rae made a quick detour to the kitchen to grab a drink before heading outside through the door being propped open by a half-empty case of cheap beer.

When they stepped outside, they saw that a crowd of people were gathered around a long table to watch the two-on-two beer pong game that was in progress.

On one side of the table against one of the walls, Rae noticed Chloe and Izzy watching the beer pong game with rapt attention and when she met eyes with them she and Archie walked over to join them.

“There you two are, we’ve been standing awkwardly by the couch for the last 30 minutes trying to figure out where everyone went!” Rae replied with a laugh.

“Sorry about that,” Izzy replied, “I was inside a bit earlier, but Chloe dragged me out here to watch the beer pong game.”

“Oh really? I didn’t know you were such a big fan of cliché drinking games, Chloe!”

“I’m not, but I am a fan of the ass on that boy right over there,” Chloe replied with a smirk as she nodded her head towards one of the beer pong players that was bending over to pick up the rogue ping pong ball that had bounced off of the table.

“These four lads pretty much always have a beer pong rematch at all of these parties. Neither team is particularly good at beer pong, but they have a lot of fun with it and they’re not too hard on the eyes.”

Rae chuckled and gave each of the players a once over, stopping only when the lad Chloe had pointed out noticed her looking at them with curiosity and shot her a friendly smile.

“Hey Archie!” he called when he noticed Archie standing along the wall beside Rae.

“How’s it going, David?” Archie called back in response.

“Pretty good. Eddie and I aren’t doing so well this round, but I think we can come back and beat Blue and his mate,” David replied before returning his focus back to the beer pong game.

“Ah, so you know ‘David’…hmm, interesting…”

“It’s not like that, I swear. We used to have the same Ancient Civilizations lecture together, so we got to know each other a bit. His mate Blue on the other hand…” Archie trailed off with a smirk.

“Blue? Is that like a nickname or what?”

“Nope! Not a nickname. He’s the one in the black shirt on the other team. He’s a pretty cool guy and I’ve never really spoken to him too much, but I’m fairly certain that I’m going to marry him.” Archie whispered in reply, making Rae laugh loudly.

“Hey, my throw wasn’t that bad! You don’t have to laugh!” Blue called out to Rae with a laugh.

“Sorry! I wasn’t laughing at you, I swear. My mate just told me something funny.”

“You don’t have to lie to spare his feelings, love. How about I show you how a real man sinks a throw,” David replied cockily only to miss the cup he was aiming for entirely.

The game continued in much the same fashion for a while–each team seldom gaining any points despite the amount of shit-talking going on–and before long both teams were tied and struggling to break the tie in order to officially end the game.

“Hey, Chloe! Are you any good?” David’s beer pong partner asked as he nodded his head towards the beer pong table.

“Yeah, Chloe is pretty good at handling balls,” Rae joked under her breath as she leaned towards Archie so only he heard.

“So, it looks like Chloe’s mate has jokes. Come on over here and we’ll see who’s laughing then,” David’s partner quipped.

“What are ya doing, Eddie?”

“I want this game over as soon as possible and we’re not really getting anywhere with just us four, so I thought maybe we could use a celebrity shot as the tie-breaker. Is that alright with you?”

“Ah, good idea. We can let the ladies choose which team they want to represent though.”

“I’ll be on David’s team,” Chloe called out as she walked towards the end of the table where he and his partner stood.

“Perfect, it looks like you’re going to be playing for our team. My name is Blue, by the way,” he replied with a wide smile.

“I’m Rae,” she replied as she picked up the ping pong ball from Blue’s outstretched hand.

“Alright ladies, I’m going to take a leap and assume that you both know the basic rules of beer pong,” David said and waited a moment for both Rae and Chloe to nod in agreement, “so the rules for a celebrity shot is pretty simple: you each go one at a time trying to land a ping pong ball into a cup. The first one to make their shot wins for their team. You’ll both just keep going back and forth until one of you makes their shot. Sound good?”

Both Rae and Chloe agreed and they flipped a coin to determine who would be up first to take their shot.

Chloe was up first, so she stepped up to the table and tossed her ping pong towards the cup she was aiming for. When the ball clipped the edge of the cup and bounced out, the entire crowd groaned in sympathy.

“It was so fucking close!” Chloe complained, “Alright, Rae-Rae…your turn now!”

Rae stepped up to the table with wide eyes and began trying to plan out which cup to aim for. Blue rest a hand on her shoulder and gave her a final shoulder squeeze of encouragement before stepping aside to let her take the shot.

Rae got into position to make her shot and took a slow, steadying breath before closing her eyes and tossing the ball across the table.

It wasn’t until the loud cheers and chanting began that Rae opened her eyes and realized she had sunk the small plastic ball in the opponent’s cup, making her and Blue’s team the winning team.

“You, my dear, are a total badass!” Blue said as he lifted both his hands up to give Rae congratulatory high-fives on their shared victory, “If you ever want a partner to play beer pong with, just let me know!”

Rae laughed and returned the high fives as he walked away to join his friends who were currently walking back into the house through the back door.

“Go Rae! That was great!”

“Oh, it was nothing really! Just beginner’s luck, I’m sure—!”

Rae gasped mid-sentence when she felt a pair of arms wrap around her from behind and someone rest their chin on her shoulder.

“That’s my Rae! Always so humble even when she just kicked ass at beer pong and won the game for those guys!”

“Finn! There ya are! You can’t just go around sneaking up on me like that. When did you get here?”

“I was out back smoking a spliff with Chop and the lads, but I caught the tail-end of the game and saw you make the game-winning shot as if it was the easiest thing you’ve ever done,” Finn replied with a chuckle as he turned his face to give Rae a kiss on the cheek.

“Oi, get a room you two! Wait, this is my house! Don’t you dare go into my home and defile one of my rooms with your perverted behavior!” Chop joked as he approached the gang and scoffed at Rae and Finn who were still wrapped in an embrace.

“Fuck off, Chop!” Rae replied with a laugh as she removed Finn’s arms from where they had been wrapped around her torso and gave Chop a gentle shove in return.

“I’m actually going to get another beer. Can I get ya anything, Rae? Another cider, maybe?”

“Yes, please…actually I’m tired of cider. Can I get a cup of the Jungle Juice? Archer says it’s really good but really strong,” Rae said.

“Of course, love! I’ll be right back,” Finn said as he leaned to give Rae a peck on the cheek before walking back towards the house.

A few moments of silence passed with all of her friends giving her the same looks of judgement and surprise to varying degrees before the tension became too uncomfortable for Rae to put up with any longer.

“What are all of you staring at me for?”

“Don’t play dumb, Rae,” Chloe said, “you and Finn are acting awful close tonight. Is there something you’re not telling us?”

“Uh, no…?”

“So, you two aren’t a couple yet?” Izzy asked and if Rae didn’t know any better, she may have mistaken the slight drunken slur in her voice for being disappointment.

“Whoa, definitely not! He’s just…well, he’s Finn. We’re close, obviously, but not like that! I can’t believe you lot really thought that Finn and I are— “

“Fucking insane how many people show up to these parties, huh, Chop?” Finn said as soon as he walked out the back door of the house carrying his bottle of beer in one hand and a red plastic cup in the other.

“Thanks, Finnley,” Rae replied as she took the plastic cup from his hand and took a drink, cringing slightly at the potent and sugary mixture of alcohol.

“My pleasure, Rae! Do any of you know where James headed off to? I let him borrow my lighter and I want to make sure I get it back before I leave,” Finn replied as he took a swig of his bottle of beer.

“I think Blue and the rest of the guys who were playing beer pong went out to smoke with him, so maybe try there?” Chop replied as he gestured with his head towards the yard where people tended to gather to smoke.

As soon as Finn was out of earshot, all eyes turned back to Rae and she took a long drink from her cup to avoid meeting their eyes.

“Look Rae, we don’t want to pry or overstep our boundaries, but we really care about ya,” Archie began.

“Exactly! We’ve been telling you that we weren’t sure how the arrangement between the two of you was gonna work out, but we tried to keep an open mind,” Chloe continued.

“We just wanna make sure you’re happy and that you don’t get hurt in any way.” Izzy added with a nod.

“I appreciate that, really, but none of you have anything to worry about. Finn and I work surprisingly well together and I don’t regret it at all.”

“Even so, if he ever steps out of line or doesn’t fulfill his half of the deal, I’ll gladly kick Finn’s arse for you. I don’t care if he’s one of my best mates or not,” Chop added with a wide grin.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Rae replied with a smile when she looked across the yard and saw Finn walking towards then holding his favorite purple lighter in the air triumphantly.

“I found it!” He said as he rejoined the group, “I’m actually planning on heading out of here now, I think.”

“Leaving already, Finney boy? You definitely aren’t the same wild teenager who could party on a weeknight and go to college the next morning without trouble that I used to know and envy, now are ya?”

“Fuck off, Chopper! I’m only leaving because I’m tired of looking at your ugly mug, actually!” Finn quipped before getting pulled into a playful headlock by Chop.

Rae finished drinking the last of her drink and walked the short distance to place her empty cup into the bin.

When she returned to the group, Finn was pulling his arms into his leather jacket and drinking the last of his beer.

“Are you ready to leave now too, Rae?”

“I think I am, yeah,”

“Alright, sounds good,” Finn turned towards the rest of the gang as they said their goodbyes and good nights before gripping Rae’s hand in his gently, “come on, Rae. Let’s head back home!”

Finn and Rae walked back into the house and through the party hand-in-hand as they made their way to the front of the house where Finn’s car was parked outside so they could go home together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is the longest that I’ve written for this story thus far, but hopefully y’all enjoy the additional 1000ish words and don’t hate how long the chapter is! Fun fact: this entire chapter is based on actual events of a party I went to a while ago.
> 
> I’m still loving all the love that this story has received over the last weeks, so if you have read any of this story/left kudos/left a comment on one or more chapters or in one way or another told me how much you’re enjoying this story, just know that I appreciate you dearly. ^_^


	8. Chapter 8

The waitress brought over their food on a large round tray and placed the plates on the table in front of Rae and Archie before promising to check on them a little while later.

“So Arch, what’s new?”

“Nothing much, really. Is there anything new going on with you?”

“Ah, just the usual stuff, I suppose. Life is boring again now that I’m done moving and more or less settled into the new routine and living with a roommate again.”

“I know what you mean. I’ve gotten stuck in a rut as well, so I’ve been trying to keep busy and I even have a coffee date with a friend of a friend on Sunday!”

Rae scoffed lightly as she took a bite of a chip from her plate, earning a sigh from her friend sitting opposite from her.

“Don’t scoff at me, Rae! Maybe you need to get out more too. Go on some dates or something!” Archie added as he used the end of his fork to point at her before taking a bite of his food.

“Ugh! My coworker said the same thing to me a few weeks ago! What is it with everyone trying to meddle with my love life? I’m plenty busy with work and Uni as it is and I’m just not looking for a relationship right now!” Rae huffed as she angrily bit into another chip.

“But I haven’t even heard you take an interest in anyone recently. You almost act like you’re already in a relationship…although I suppose you sort of already do have a man in your life that takes up all your free time,” Archie trailed off with a suggestive eyebrow raise.

“Are you referring to Finn? Seriously?”

“Yes, Rae. I feel like anytime me or the gang talk to you or see you, Finn is never far behind. It’s like you two are a packaged deal since becoming roommates and I don’t know if that’s a good thing or not yet.”

“Look Arch, I really don’t know why you and the gang are giving him such a hard time about us being roommates, but it’s getting pretty old. Is there a reason why you’re all treating him like shit or…?”

“We don’t mean to treat him like shit, but…” Archie paused to consider his words before continuing, “You do realize that I’m aware you used to fancy Finn, right?”

“Everyone and their mum know that, I’m sure. He’s funny and attractive, obviously, but we’re just friends. I swear,” Rae assured him.

“We’re just all looking out for you, Rae. It’s just a bit confusing…Finn refused to share a dorm with Chop and I in Uni because he said he doesn’t like to share his personal space like that. Yet out of nowhere, he moves out of his dad’s house and wants to live with you. It’s odd, don’t you think?”

“I suppose I could see why that’d be confusing, but I don’t know. I don’t know what reasoning Finn would have to want to be roommates other than us being friends and both needing people to live with. We’re both single, so it just sort of makes sense that we live together, since neither of us have a significant other to live with.”

“And I’m sure it has nothing to do with the fact that Finn’s in love with you, right?” Archie replied with a smirk.

“For fuck’s sake, Arch! He’s not in love with me,” Rae replied with a laugh.

“Maybe, maybe not…but you’ve gotta admit, he’s been super clingy with you and acting particularly domestic since you two became roommates, right?”

“Yeah, sort of. But I don’t mind it. I sort of like it, actually, it’s nice after living alone for a year. Things were really tough to handle all on my own and it nice to have someone to keep me company. Someone to take care of me…It’s nice having Finn around.”

“I remember how bad things were getting last year and don’t get me wrong, I’m happy that you’re happy now, I’m just trying to be cautious. Have you talked to him about—”

“No, not yet, but it’s bound to happen when the time is right. I just don’t want him to think differently of me or change the way he treats me, you know?”

“That makes sense. I know you’re happy living with Finn, so I’ll stop bringing it up and I’ll ask the rest of the gang to do the same. But that doesn’t mean we’ll stop looking out for ya, Rae!”

“I appreciate that and you know I’d never ask that of you all. You’re my best mates for a reason!”

After they had finished eating their lunch, Archie walked with Rae from the small cafe where they meet for lunch from time to time towards the building where her next Uni class would be starting shortly.

“Do Finn and I honestly look that much like a couple?” Rae asked after the two had been walking in silence for a couple minutes, “You commented on it today and Izzy brought it up at the party last weekend.”

“When he’s hanging all over you and kissing your cheek and basically doting on you, it’s easy to get that impression.”

“Huh…I’m sure sixteen-year-old Rae would be dying at the prospect of her and Finn Nelson being confused for dating and even living with each other!”

“And you claim to have moved on from your crush on Finn…”

“I did, honestly.”

“Maybe, but Finn is still probably in love with you. He’s too proud to admit it out loud just yet and too shy to make a move, but Uncle Archie knows what he’s talking about,” Archie added with a shrug.

“What did I tell you about calling yourself that?” Rae groaned, “Not to mention, if Finn really liked me like that, I’m sure he’d think of a way to let me know.”

Rae and Archie were chatting outside the lecture hall for her next class when Archie suddenly gasped and turned away from the open doorway nearby.

“What is it?”

“You didn’t tell me that Blue was in your class!”

“He’s not, at least I don’t think he is…”

“Oh, well he’s coming over here right now! Quick, quick! Say something funny so we can pretend that we’re talking and laughing when he gets over here!”

“I thought we were talking…?” Rae mumbled before chuckling and shaking her head at Archie’s desperate attempt to act natural as Blue approached them.

“Hiya Rae! You probably don’t remember, but my name’s Blue. You were the celeb shot for our beer pong game at the party Saturday!” He said, grinning.

“I remember. You have a pretty unique name, so you’re kinda of hard to forget,” Rae chuckled.

“Oh, uh, thank you…I think? I’m just getting out of class now, but I saw the two of you over here and wanted to come over and say ‘hi’!”

“Ah! I knew I didn’t recognize you from my Greek mythology class! You’re in the class before mine, it seems.”

“Heh, looks like it, yeah. I should probably get headed to my next class but, I was wondering if you might want to get a drink with me sometime this week?”

“Like a date?” Rae blurted before she was able to stop herself.

“Yeah, I sorta meant it as a date, but if you’re seeing someone already or would prefer just to go as friends, that’s fine too.”

“No, as a date is fine with me,” Rae added quickly to reassure him. “Does tomorrow night work for you?”

“Yeah, tomorrow’s perfect. Here, you can put your number in my phone and I’ll text you back so you have my number too and then we can text to work out the details,” Blue said as he handed Rae his phone to input her cell phone number.

When the two had exchanged numbers, Blue said goodbye to Rae and Archie and walked across the hallway to meet up with his group of friends that had been waiting for him to catch up to them.

“See Archie? I don’t know what you were talking about. I go on dates all the time.” Rae added with a cheeky smirk as she walked into the lecture hall and looked over her shoulder to shoot Archie a wink before he walked away to go to his next class as well.


	9. Chapter 9

Rae dug through her purse, trying to use the light from her cell phone to find her keys as she stood outside the front door of her apartment.  
“Fucking finally,” Rae huffed as she found the keychain that her apartment key was attached to, “we have got to get the bloody light out her repaired!”  
It was much later than Rae had anticipated coming home, so as she unlocked the door and placed her keys back into her purse, she tried to open the door as quietly as she possibly could. She had barely made it into the apartment and relocked the front door behind her when she heard the distinct sound of a door opening and the dull thud of bare feet against the floor of the dimly lit hallway.  
“I’m so sorry I woke you,” Rae apologized when Finn came into view of the kitchen as she was getting herself a glass of water.  
“S’fine. I wasn’t sleeping,” Finn muttered as he walked to stand on the opposite side of the long kitchen counter from Rae, “Are you just getting home from work now?”  
“Oh, uh, no. I did work my late afternoon shift today, but afterwards I had made plans to meet someone for drinks.”  
“Oh! Alright,” Finn nodded as he brought his thumb up to his mouth to nibble at a slightly uneven edge of his nail, “I wasn’t sure where you were, but I also didn’t want to come across as being super clingy and paranoid by calling or texting you.”  
“Did you stay awake just to make sure I got home safe?” Rae asked when she looked down and noticed that Finn was already wearing comfortable clothing and was stifling  
yet another yawn.  
Instead of replying, Finn simply shrugged and followed Rae as she walked from their kitchen into the living room and took a seat on the couch. Finn sat down on the couch next to her and gestured for her to rest her feet on his lap, the position they ended up in more often than not when they sat on the couch together.  
“Did you just go get drinks with a coworker after you both got out of work, or…?” Finn asked as casually as he could.  
“Uh, no...”  
“Was it, like, a date or something?” Finn asked when Rae didn’t elaborate further.  
“Sort of,” Rae mumbled, “This guy I met at the party last weekend crossed paths with me on campus and he asked me to meet him for drinks today. I think you might know  
him, actually. He’s Chop’s mate, Blue.”  
“You went on a date with Blue?” Finn questioned, making no attempt to disguise his tone of voice.  
“Well, it was just a drink or two, but yeah I suppose.” Rae replied with a dismissive shrug.  
“Huh, wouldn’t have expected that.”  
“What’s that supposed to mean, Finn?”  
“He just doesn’t seem like your type, I guess.”  
“And what exactly is my type, since you seem to know so much about who I do and don’t like,” Rae asked with her eyebrows raised as she looked beside her on the couch, waiting for Finn to make eye contact with her.  
“I dunno, but not Blue.” He muttered, looking up only briefly.  
“Why not? He’s a nice guy,” Rae began.  
“Oh, yeah! He’s definitely nice, he’s just really...well, he’s sort of…dim-witted.”  
“Well, that’s one way to put it, yes,” Rae replied with a chuckle.  
“Did you at least have a good time with Blue?”  
“Yeah I had a really good time,” Rae replied before looking over at Finn, “but there likely won’t be a second date, since I know that’s the real question you were asking.”  
Finn chuckled sheepishly ad began idly pulling on a loose string that was hanging off of the cuff of Rae’s jeans.  
“Do you wish the date had gone better?”  
“Not necessarily. I mostly just said yes because he asked and I thought that I had nothing left to lose. Worst case scenario, I go to a pub and have a drink or two with some shit guy and then come back home and tell you all about how shit it was. I had a good time and I liked talking to him, but I think we both are happy with just keeping it friendly and platonic.”  
“That’s alright then, I guess.”  
“I think so too. Chloe, Arch, and some of my coworkers have been on my ass about ‘getting out there’ and dating more, but I’m not too concerned about it. I like where I’m at now. Things are comfortable now, you know?” Rae replied with a wiggle of her feet that were still resting across Finn’s lap.  
“Yeah, I know what you mean,” Finn muttered, “We never talked about that before we moved in together, dating, I mean.”  
“What?”  
“Oh! I mean, uh, like if one of us is dating and gets into a relationship or whatever. We never talked about each of our rules about bringing people over or inviting  
dates into the apartment or whatnot.”  
“I guess it never really occurred to me. I’m alright with you bringing home dates, just let me know first or let me know if you’d prefer that I not be in the apartment while she’s over or whatever,”  
“Cool. Um, same, I guess. But I doubt you’d have to worry about me bringing any girls home. I haven’t been dating much recently either, much to Archie and the gang’s chagrin.”  
“They just love to meddle in everyone else’s business. I think I’d be more surprised if they didn’t try to dictate my love life, honestly.”  
“Yeah, you think that by now I’d be used to it, but apparently not!” Finn agreed with a laugh.  
Finn and Rae sat quietly on the couch together for a few minutes before Rae could hear Finn struggling to stifle a yawn.  
“Alright, Finnley, It’s way past your bedtime! I’m tired, I know that you’re tired and have to be awake early for work, and I need all the beauty sleep that I can get, so I think it’d be best if we both try to get some sleep now.”  
“Yeah, you might be right,” Finn began before finally giving in to the yawn that he’d been trying to avoid, “I had a long day at work and have been looking forward to going to bed since I got home this evening, but I didn’t want to fall asleep and miss a call or text from you, since I wasn’t sure why you were running late. I was too busy worrying about ya to fall asleep.”  
Rae looked over at Finn as she lifted her legs off of his lap and allowed him to stand up, smirking when she realized that Finn was likely unaware of what he’d just said out loud in his state of exhaustion.  
“All the more reason for you to get in bed now then,” Rae said as she placed her hands on Finn’s shoulders from behind and steered him towards the open door of his bedroom.  
“Good night, Rae!” Finn mumbled as he leaned to give Rae a light peck on her cheek before walking into his room and laying down face-first on his unmade bed.  
“Sweet dreams, Finnley,” Rae whispered as she turned off his bedroom light and closed his door behind her as she walked to her own bedroom.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I have the next few chapters all mapped out and I’m excited about them, but I wasn’t sure how long I was going to drag out the whole Rae-goes-on-dates-with-Not-Finn plot line or if I wanted to make Finn get jealous (trick question, yes I do. Jealous Finn is attractive af) and I’m still not sure tbh. Could this be the last we hear of Blue? Will Rae keep going on dates but with other people and will Finn be jealous about it? I guess we’ll all just have to stick around and keep reading to see what happens!


	10. Chapter 10

As Finn unlocked the front door of their apartment and set his keys down on the shelf nearest to where he stood, he was surprised to see that Rae’s keys were already hanging on the hook that she uses.

“Hey, Rae, is that you?” Finn called out as he shrugged off his leather jacket and sat down on the couch to loosen the laces of his boots so he could take them off.

When there was no reply, Finn walked down the hallway towards his bedroom to put away his shoes but stopped in his tracks when he heard a noise coming from behind the closed door across from his room—Rae’s bedroom.

“Uh, Rae are you in there? Did you come home early from work or something..?”

A grunt followed by a muffled string of curses stopped Finn in his tracks as he was walking towards Rae’s door to knock on it.

“Ugh, fuck. Can you please get your tongue out of my ear,” Rae complained after a surprised giggle.

Finn’s eyebrows shot up and he turned around away from Rae’s door in a single motion and walked into his bedroom to avoid overhearing anymore of whatever was going on inside Rae’s room.

“Don’t climb on top of me like that! You’re hurting me! Stop it,” Rae groaned and there was the sound of shuffling and something falling to the ground loudly.

“Uh, Rae? It’s Finn. Are you alright in there? If you don’t respond I’m going to come in there to check on you and make sure you’re alright!” Finn called through the closed door of her bedroom, one hand resting on the handle of her door in case he had to go inside.

“Oh shit,” Rae muttered, “Hey, Finn! I’m alright, I promise. Just…uh, give me a second. Don’t come in yet, though. Please!”

“Uh, alright…” Finn replied hesitantly as he waited outside Rae’s door as he continued to hear shuffling sounds and muted grunts coming from her room.

A door inside Rae’s bedroom clicked shut quietly and a few moments later a visibly flushed Rae opened the door of her bedroom, giving Finn a sheepish smile.

“So…about that,” Rae began with a nervous chuckle.

“No need to explain! I didn’t mean to interrupt anything, I just wanted to make sure that you were alright because I heard things falling and you, uh, grunting…a lot,” Finn mumbled before stopping himself from saying anything more as a blush crept into his cheeks.

“Oh! Oh, yeah, I know how that must have sounded, but I promise it’s not at all what you think.” Rae assured him when the implications of what he had said sunk in.

“Okay,” Finn said with a nod.

“Follow me, I have something to show you,” Rae said as she stepped further into her bedroom and beckoned for Finn to follow her.

She led them to the closed door that separates her bedroom from the ensuite bathroom and stopped with her back against the door and one handle on the handle of the door.

“Now before I open this door,” Rae began, “I want you to promise me that you won’t get mad.”

“Erm, alright,”

“And that you won’t freak out.”

“I won’t get mad and I’ll try not to freak out, I promise, but you’re really making me nervous right now, girl!” Finn said with a hesitant chuckle.

“Alright, here goes nothing,” Rae sighed as she opened the door slowly.

As soon as the door opened, a light brown dog ran out of the bathroom and began excitedly jumping up at Finn and pawing at the leg of his jeans.

“Surprise!” Rae said with a laugh as Finn stood still in shock at the dog that had given up jumping on Finn and was instead running clumsy circles around him.

“You got a dog?” Finn finally said as he sat down at the foot of Rae’s bed and pulled the excited dog onto his lap to give it the attention that it wanted.

“Kind of,” Rae replied with a chuckle as she gently scratched behind one of the dog’s ears, “one of my coworkers, Anna, is out of town for a family emergency and needed someone to watch her new puppy while she’s gone.”

“And you volunteered?”

“Well she asked me first because she said she trusted me, but the puppy is still too young to go to a kennel or to be left alone while she’s gone.”

“Ah, I see,”

“You’re not mad, are you?”

“Mad? Why would I be mad?”

“I dunno. I didn’t ask you prior to agreeing to watch him.”

“It’s a surprise, definitely, but not a bad one. I like dogs,” Finn replied with a smile as he leaned forward to give the puppy a kiss on top of it’s head, “Does this little guy have a name?”

“Oh, yeah, of course. His name is Rocky!”

“That’s a good name, it suits him!”

“I wanted to be able to break the news to you a bit more smoothly, but I forgot that today is your early day getting home from work.”

“Yeah, I knew something was up when I saw your car in the parking lot out front, but I didn’t think that it was gonna be a puppy!”

“I didn’t know Anna was going to be leaving today when I first volunteered, but she went home to grab Rocky on her lunch break and brought him into the office until I was able to get permission to leave work early.”

“How long did you say that we were going to be watching him for again?”

“A little over a week. Until next Saturday, based on what Anna told me,”

“Alright. This is going to be fun, I think.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah, I think so! I’ve always wanted a puppy and I think it might be fun to coparent this puppy with you, even if it is only for a week or two,” Finn replied with a smile as he placed the puppy into Rae’s open arms and stood up from her bed.

“Who knows, this just might show us that we’re capable of getting a pet together.” Rae added with a smile.

“Perhaps. Since we’re both here now, we can take Rocky here on a little car ride to buy some puppy supplies and maybe we can go to the dog park downtown so he can run off some of this energy. What do you two say?” Finn suggested.

“Sounds good to me! Just give me a few minutes to get Rocky’s leash and then we can head out!”

When they were ready to head out, Finn climbed into his truck and unlocked the passenger door while Rae lifted Rocky into the truck before climbing into her seat.

Rocky walked across the front seat of Finn’s truck, sniffing everything and trying to investigate this unfamiliar place, before settling down on top of a forgotten flannel shirt that Finn had left in the center seat of his truck.

“Rocky! Get off of there, you’re gonna make Finn’s shirt smell like puppy!” Rae chided lightly as she tried to convince the puppy that had curled into a ball on the shirt and was beginning to doze off to move.

“Don’t worry about it, Rae,” Finn replied with a smile, “I don’t mind if he wants to snuggle with my flannel. At least he has good taste!”

Rae chuckled as she saw Rocky stretch his head to lick Finn’s hand that was nearest to him before Finn began pulled out of the parking space and began to drive.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I got the idea to write this chapter because I feel like getting a pet is an important step in relationships between roommates and in romantic relationships as well, so it might be fun if Rae and Finn get to be cute and take care of a puppy together.
> 
> My inspiration for Rocky was my own puppy, Pudge, but Rocky is younger and smaller than my 5month old puppy is now. She's very cute but also a pain in the ass, but I love her.
> 
> This is just a filler chapter, really, but I thought it could be cute and I wanted to get something posted and this is what I had planned out in my list of chapters that have been mapped out, so here we are!


	11. Chapter 11

Rae was laying on the couch, watching Rocky fondly as he played with his favorite squeaky toy before momentarily getting side-tracked with chasing his own tail, and idly scrolling through social media when she heard the front door open.

“Hello,” Finn called out as he walked through the door and relocked it behind himself.

“Hiya Finn,” Rae called back as she waited for him to walk into view, “How was work today?”

“Long and boring, but what’s new? How was your day?”

“Also long and boring,” Rae chuckled, “I feel like everyone at work today was either sick, on vacation, or just away from their desk and I had to pick of the slack to make sure the department overall finished what we needed to before the weekend.”

“I’m sorry. Has Rocky been pretty relaxed like this or has he been a complete menace?”

“He was really high-energy and kept jumping around when I was walking him earlier, but he’s calmed down a lot now.”

Finn lifted Rae’s legs up off the couch so he could sit down only to place them on top of his lap again.

“Have you talked to Anna about when she wants him back?”

Finn leaned forward to pick Rocky up off the ground and bring him into his arms to properly greet the puppy.

Even though they had only been taking care of Rocky for little over a week now, they had already established a reasonable daily routine and had gotten used to the sound of his quiet whines when he wanted attention and the constant, dull pitter-patter of his nails on their wood flooring.

“I texted her this morning and she said that her flight lands really late Saturday night, so I could bring Rocky over any time on Sunday.”

“Cool,” Finn mumbled before lifting Rocky up to rest him on his upper chest, “I’ve gotta admit, I think that I’m gonna miss the little bugger when he’s gone.”

“Yeah, I think I will too, but Anna dubbed me Rocky’s official aunt, so I think we could at least ask to hang out with him and take him off her hands from time to time.”

“That would be nice,” Finn mused as he sat quietly on the couch for a few moments until Rocky began to squirm and try to climb off of Finn.

Finn lifted Rocky and placed him on the floor and the puppy immediately walked over to the black and gray dog bed they had bought for him.

“You must have really tired the little guy out on that walk,” Finn mused when he saw Rocky curl into a comfortable position on the dog bed and fall asleep almost immediately.

The two sat in comfortable silence as they watched the puppy fall deeper and deeper asleep until his gentle snores could be heard even from across the room.

“We should do something tonight,” Finn said suddenly.

“Uh, like what?”

“I dunno, what do people our age normally do on a Friday night?”

“Party, go drinking, hook up with strangers only to regret it the next day,” Rae suggested, earning a laugh from Finn.

“Let’s do that then,” Finn said before continuing, “Drinking or partying, I mean. My coworkers are always talking about different bars they’ve gone to, so maybe we could try going to one of them.”

“I’m not sure that the ‘Friday night bar scene’ is really for me. I’m not even a fan of going to the pub on the weekends with the gang if I have a choice because it gets so busy there!”

“Well we don’t have to go to one of the crazy bars or night club-like bars.”

“What did you have in mind then?”

“There’s a place that my coworkers are always raving on about where it’s part-bar-part-coffee-shop and then you can play unlimited board games and card games while you hang out.”

“Huh,” Rae mused as she considered the idea, “that might not be all that bad.”

“Perfect, we can check that place out and if we’re miserable we can go somewhere else. Sound good?”

“Yeah, that works for me!”

“Cool, are you gonna change your clothes?”

“Should I change my clothes? Are you changing your clothes or do I just look that bad?”

“No! You look fine, you look great,” Finn backtracked, “I just wanted to know when you wanted to leave or how much time you needed to get ready.”

“Oh, I guess I could change. I wore these clothes to work, but they’re all covered in puppy hair now,”

“Alright. I’m gonna change too, but whenever we’re ready we can go.”

Finn and Rae both walked down the hall in the direction of their respective bedrooms before Finn hesitated and turned around.

“What are you gonna wear?”

“I dunno. Are we trying to dress nicely or just comfortably? What were you thinking?”

“Maybe we could dress up and look a little nice today. Nothing too fancy, just a bit nicer than I’d usually dress going to the pub.”

“Like what you’d wear if you were going on a date to a bar, casual but nice.”

“Oh, uh, yeah. I suppose,” Finn stuttered out.

Finn turned around and walked into his room, quickly closing the door behind him to avoid letting Rae see how red his cheeks had gotten at the suggestion that they were going on a date.

When Rae had changed clothes and spent just a few minutes fixing her hair and putting on a little bit of makeup, she left her room, closing the door behind her.

“Are you just about ready to g—oh my god,” Finn began before trailing off into silence.

“What? Is there something wrong with what I’m wearing?” Rae asked as she looked down at her outfit.

Her navy-blue dress fit her well in the chest but was just the right amount flowy and loose around the hips so that the fabric swayed lightly with each step she took. The dress was simple, decorated only by subtle metallic embroidery throughout all the fabric and a diamond shaped cut out just below the bust to show off a small bit of skin. The dress was a bit short, only hitting mid-thigh on her tall frame, but she had paired it with a cozy, dark-gray cardigan that was only slightly shorter than the dress itself. Though Rae had yet to put them on yet, she was carrying in her hand her gray suede ankle boots with a chunky heel that she had been waiting for the right opportunity to wear them.

“No, there’s nothing wrong with your outfit,” Finn choked out after he realized he had been staring at Rae in awe for entirely too long, “You look incredible!”

“You clean up pretty well yourself, Finnley,” Rae replied with a smirk as she reached for the collar of his buttoned shirt and gave it a playful tug, “And would you look at that, our clothes even match!”

Finn looked down at his own clothes and noticed that the dark blue shade of Rae’s dress was almost identical to the color of his own shirt. He was wearing his favorite pair of dark wash jeans that he has been told makes his butt look particularly good, but the outfit was completed with his matching distressed gray leather boots and leather jacket in a similar color.

Finn chuckled nervously as Rae sat down on the couch to put on her shoes and as she zipped up the zipper on the back of each of her boots, she looked up at Finn with a cheeky smile.

“Now it definitely looks like you and I are going on a date!” She said, adding a wink when Finn sputtered audibly.

“Did you want to drive or take a taxi to the bar?” Rae asked when Finn had yet to say anything intelligible for a few moments.

“Oh, well I could drive, if you’d prefer. I was planning on us just taking a taxi so we can drink and not worry about having to drive home afterwards. But I can definitely be your designated driver for the night if you’d rather that.”

“No, we can take a taxi! I just was wondering. Are you ready to head out now?”

Rae walked into her room to make sure she had her phone and her purse while Finn ensured that Rocky’s water and food bowls were full in case he woke up from his nap and was hungry while they were gone.

Rae met Finn at the front door and the two left their apartment and headed towards the street side where the taxi would pick them up.

They only had to wait a few minutes for their ride to pull up to the curb in front of them and before long Finn and Rae were sitting side-by-side in the back of the car on the way to the bar Finn had suggested they try.

When they pulled up to the bar, they could see that there were a lot of people and most of the tables were full, but even on first glance it was clear to see that this was no ordinary bar.

Once they walked inside the building, Rae could see that in the center of the room was a massive circular bar area with shelves of just about every type of alcohol imaginable. The music playing was fun and energetic, but it was a far cry from the thumping bass and loud remixed pop songs that are played at most bars she had been to thus far.

“Hello there! Is it going to just be the two of you tonight?” ask the red headed hostess who had tattoos covering both arms almost entirely.

“Yes, just two. Thank you,” Finn replied with a polite smile.

“Perfect! Leslie will show you two to a table,” the hostess replied before turning to the petite blond waitress nearby, “can you please show this couple here to table number 65? Thank you!”

Rae looked at Finn when the hostess referred to them as a couple and mouthed the word “couple” before raising her eyebrows suggestively, causing Finn to turn away to hide the blush creeping into his cheeks.

“How are you two this evening? As she mentioned, my name is Leslie and I’ll be your waitress for the night. Have you two been here before?”

“No, we have not,” Rae said as she took a seat on one side of the booth that they were led to and Finn sat down opposite from her.

“Oh! First-timers, huh? Well you’re gonna have a great time, I promise! Pretty much how it works is that you pay a set price and you can play all the games you want to for however long you want to. You’re also more than welcome to order any food, drink, coffee...pretty much, you name it and we’ve got it. I’ll give you two a moment to get settled and I’ll be right back to see if you wanted to order any food or drinks, alright?”

Rae and Finn took a couple minutes to look through the menus that had been placed in front of them.

“Are you going to start off with a drink or did you want to get some food?”

“I’m not really hungry, so I’ll probably just start with drinks for now and maybe get something to eat in a bit.”

Finn and Rae both continued to look over the menus until Leslie returned to their table carrying a handheld tablet to input their orders.

“Alright, are you two ready to place an order for some food or drinks?”

“I think we can go ahead and order some drinks,”

“Perfect, what can I get you, love?”

“Uh, let’s see,” Rae mumbled, “can I get a Moscow mule, please?”

“Good choice! And for you, handsome?”

“Uh, I’ll start off with an old fashioned, please”

“Sounds good! I’ll go ahead and bring both of those right out!”

Rae and Finn stood up from the table and began to peruse the massive shelves stacked nearly from floor to ceiling with every board game imaginable, most of which neither had ever heard of before, that covered two walls of the building.

Finn and Rae continued to drink, play games, and have fun until they were both sufficiently drunk and noticed that the bar was less than an hour from closing for the night.

“Are ya ready to get ride home?”

“Yeah, I’m pretty tired and it’s getting late, I think,” Rae said as she and Finn began putting the most recent game they had played into the box to return it to the shelf it came from.

While Rae went to put away the board game, Finn paid their tab and waited for Rae to join him near the exit of the bar.

“How much do I owe you for my portion of the check?” Rae asked as they waited on the sidewalk outside the bar for the taxi they had ordered to arrive.

“Don’t worry about it. It was my idea to go out to the bar tonight, so it’s the least I can do!”

“Oh wow! That’s so gentlemanly of you,” Rae replied with a dramatic flutter of her eyelashes, “you’re the kind of date that every girl dreams of!”

“I try,” Finn replied with a sleepy smile as he pulled Rae into a one-armed embrace.

Before long the taxi arrived to pick them up and took them back to their apartment.

Unlocking the door and trying to enter the apartment while being as quiet as possible was no use when they opened the door and saw Rocky sitting just inside the doorway wagging his tail in barely contained excitement at their return.

“Hello baby boy! Did you miss us?” Rae asked as she walked into the apartment and brought Rocky into her arms while Finn shut the door behind them and locked the door.

Rae carried Rocky into her bedroom and set him down beside her on her bed while she removed her shoes and changed out of her dress and into a comfortable pair of leggings and an oversized band tee.

“It was fun getting dressed up and all, but I’m not sure that it’s worth all of the effort,” Rae huffed as she walked into the kitchen where Finn was currently grabbing a bottle of water from the refrigerator with Rocky following right at her heels.

“You looked really nice tonight,” Finn began before pausing to consider his words, “but I don’t think you need all of that. The hair, makeup, fancy clothes...that sort of stuff. They’re nice, but they’re not very ‘you’.”

“I’m not so sure that something being ‘me’ is actually a good thing,” Rae joked.

“I’m serious, Rae. You’re great. I like ‘you’,” Finn added with a smile.

“You’ve had too much to drink,” Rae said as she shook her head and took Finn’s bottle of water out of his hand to take a drink.

“Pehaps, but I still mean what I said,” Finn stated.

“Did it really bother you that much whenever I referred to tonight being a date or us being a couple? I didn’t mean anything by it, but you really didn’t seem to like it very much,” Rae mused aloud after she handed his water bottle back to him.

“On the contrary, I probably liked it too much,” Finn chuckled lightly as he rubbed the nape of his neck with his free hand.

Rae and Finn stood quietly in the kitchen for a moment before Finn glanced at the clock over his shoulder.

“Are ya still tired, Rae?”

“Not really. Are you?”

“No, not anymore. Do you wanna have a few more drinks with me?”

Rae shrugged and walked towards the cupboard where they kept their bottles of liquor.

“Pick your poison, Finnley,” Rae replied with a cheeky smirk.

A few rum and cokes later, Rae was sitting on the couch next to Finn with her legs sprawled across his lap while Finn was nursing his third beer after having decided to lay off the hard liquor for the rest of the night.

“Alright, your turn, Finnley. Truth or dare?”

“Uh, truth,”

“Alright...why did you really want to move in with me?”

“What do ya mean?”

“No one seems to believe the whole ‘I’ve been wanting to move out but hadn’t found the right opportunity’ explanation you’ve been giving,” Rae said in her best imitation of Finn’s voice, “least of all Archie and Chloe, but I’m sure they’ve been harassing you about it as much as they have been bothering me about it, huh?”

“Yeah, Archie has been keeping a really close eye on me for the last couple months since I initially volunteered to be your roommate, so he’s definitely not buying my story. It’s true, though. My story that is,” Finn replied.

“‘But…’ I sense there a lot more to the story than just that. So, spill.”

“Fine. I guess I just,” Finn began before rubbing his hands over his face as he gathered his thoughts, “I didn’t like the idea of you living with anyone else.”

“What do ya mean?”

“I just heard you talking about all the people you had considered living with and how you were starting to get desperate to find somewhere to live or roommates. I didn’t like the idea of you living with people you didn’t know but it just dawned on me that if I moved out of my da’s house sooner, I could be your roommate since no one else you knew of was looking for a roommate.”

“So you just didn’t want me living with a complete stranger?”

“Pretty much. Especially not when I had the means and desire to move out and get an apartment.”

“Wow, that’s really nice of you,” Rae said with a smile, “and here I was thinking that you just liked hanging out with me so much that you wanted to live together to take it a step further!”

“That was just an amazing perk of living with you,” Finn replied with a smirk, “Enough about me. Truth or dare, what will it be this time, Rae?”

“Uh, I’ll go with truth this time.”

“Alright, what have Chloe and Archie been saying to you about us living together?”

“Oh, nothing particularly surprising, really. Chloe is just overprotective and worried that living with you will make me realize that you’re a total slob and make me hate you as a person. I’ve had too many shitty roommates in the past, so Chloe just wants to make sure I don’t hate where I’m living and who I’m living with yet again.”

“And Archie?”

“I think he’s just confused because you never mentioned anything about it to him beforehand. I think he might feel like you were keeping secrets from him and he’s your best mate, so he might be a bit hurt.”

“Oh, I didn’t think of it like that, but maybe you’re right.”

“Yeah,” Rae replied as she leaned forward to grab her drink off the coffee table in front of the couch and finished the remainder of it in one gulp, “I think the gang in general is convinced that we’re secretly shagging though.”

“What?” Finn sputtered at Rae’s blunt statement, causing her to giggle.

“It’s true! Every time I see Izzy, she’s disappointed to find out that we’re neither dating nor secretly hooking up. I think Izzy has been spending a bit too much time online or watching shitty romantic comedies,” Rae chuckled.

“Why would they think that though?”

“I dunno why exactly, but to be fair, I know why Izzy might think there’s something going on between us.”

“Why is that?”

“Ugh, this is so embarrassing,” Rae began with a groan, “but when I was about sixteen and I first met you and all the gang, I had a bit of a crush on you.”

Finn raised his eyebrows in surprise and Rae lifted her hand up in front of him to stop him from speaking just yet.

“Now before you say anything, just know that I was young and naive and you were too fit for your own good and had half-decent taste in music, so teenage Rae fancied you a bit, obviously. But as long as I’m being honest, I technically had a crush on Archie before I developed a crush on you.”

“I see,” Finn replied as he tried to suppress the smile pulling at his lips, “but just between you and me, you fancied me a lot more than Archie, right?”

“And this is why I didn’t wanna tell ya,” Rae scoffed and rolled her eyes at Finn.

“Sorry, Rae. I’ll drop it, I swear. Just one question though: do you still think I’m fit?” Finn replied with a suggestive eyebrow raise.

“You’re such a dickhead,” Rae muttered as she turned her head away from him as he continued to smile at her and try to get a reaction out of her.

“Oh, you know that you love me,” Finn pleaded when Rae removed her legs from his lap and scooted over to the far side of the couch away from him.

“I think you mean ‘loathe’.”

“Please Rae, don’t be like this. I was only joking,” Finn begged as he moved over on the couch to close the distance between them again.

“Go away. I just decided that I hate your face and no longer want you to be Rocky’s unofficial uncle. Effective immediately,” Rae pouted as she lightly shoved Finn’s chest to get him away from her.

“Anything but the dog! I can’t stand the thought of him growing up without a proper family. We can make this work, I promise,” Finn replied in mock desperation as he reached out to grab Rae’s hands after they left his chest.

“Fine, but I’m still mad at you.”

“Please don’t be mad at me, Rae!” Finn begged as he scooped Rae up off of the couch and set her on his lap in one quick movement, “I love you!”

Rae rolled her eyes at Finn’s overly dramatic gestures and chuckled, signifying that she had in fact already forgiven him.

“Yeah, yeah. Whatever you say, Finnley. I think it’s time for both of us to get some sleep.” Rae added as she reached a hand up to run her fingers through Finn’s hair absentmindedly.

“Yeah, maybe you’re right,” Finn replied with a sleepy smile as Rae climbed off of his lap and sat down on the couch beside him, “good night, Rae!”

Finn leaned forward just as Rae began to stand up from the couch, grabbing one of her hands to bring her closer to him and placing a tender kiss on her lips.


	12. Chapter 12

“No offense, babes, but you look like shit. Actually, you look worse than shit,” Chloe said as she took a sip of her mimosa.  
“Thanks, Chlo! Why don’t you tell me how you really feel?” Rae remarked sarcastically as she added sugar to her coffee and took a long drink.  
“Sorry, but it’s true.”  
“I know that I look like shit. I had a really late-night last night and I definitely wasn’t expecting for someone to call me repeatedly at half past six this morning,” Rae grumbled.  
“I said I was sorry, but you weren’t picking up your phone and I really wanted to see if you were free to do brunch today. We’re both always so busy and I didn’t know when I’d get to see you again since I’m going on a trip to New York for work for the rest of the month.”  
“I know, and I’m sorry that I’ve been so hard to make plans with lately. I’m happy to spend time with you and see you before you leave later this week, I just don’t love how early I had to wake up this morning, so please forgive my grumpiness.”  
“You’re already forgiven, Rae-Rae,” Chloe replied, “So…were you gonna tell me why you had such a late night or am I going to have to coax the truth out of you?”  
“Well, I went out to that new bar in the city. The one where they have all the board games and stuff that you can play—”  
“Oh my god! Were you on a date last night, Rae? I know that that bar closes fairly early, so if you had a ‘late night’ you must have continued the fun after leaving the bar, didn’t you?” Chloe asked with a smirk.  
“I went to the bar last night with Finn,” Rae clarified.  
“Oh.”  
“Why do you sound so disappointed?”  
“I really hoped you had gone on a date. Your love life has plummeted since you moved in with Finn, since the two of you are practically inseparable.”  
“What are you talking about, Chlo? I didn’t have a love life, before or after moving in with Finn,” Rae chuckled.  
“That’s not the point, Rae. I just want you to have some excitement in your life!”  
“You mean you want me to have excitement in my life so then I can tell you exciting stories about my sexcapades since you’re in a long-term relationship and want to live vicariously through me,” Rae added with an eye roll.  
“While that is true, I mean it when I say that I want you to have fun. You’re young and single and bloody gorgeous and I have no clue why you don’t have crowds of men groveling at your feet constantly.”  
“I’m just really focused on work and finishing Uni, so dating hasn’t been much of a priority for me. My life is just fine as it is.”  
“Your life is boring.”  
“That’s not true!”  
“Oh really? What’s the most recent interesting thing that has happened in your life?”  
“I went on a date with the guy I met at Chop’s party a while back,” Rae replied matter of factly.  
“Blue? Yeah, you mentioned that to me when we got coffee a couple days after your date.”  
“Oh, then...I’ve been puppy sitting my coworker’s dog for the last week!”  
“I know, you showed me Rocky via video chat on Wednesday.”  
“Oh…” Rae trailed off.  
“I told you! No offense, but you live a quite boring life, Rae!”  
“I do not!”  
“You really do, babes.”  
“Well, here’s something that I know you don’t know about already,” Rae began, “Finn and I kissed last night.”  
“You what?”  
“We kissed. Technically he kissed me, I think, but I kissed him back...I think.”  
“You think? What do you mean you ‘think’?”  
“Well we went to that bar together, which may or may not have been a date. I’m actually not too sure about that in hindsight...anyways, after the bar we came home and kept drinking and then we were playing truth or dare. When we decided to call it a night, he kissed me.”  
“On the cheek?”  
“Nope! On the lips. For a solid few seconds too,”  
“Then what?”  
“Well, to be honest, I was really drunk by that point and some of the details are a little bit hazy. But I think he pulled away and started to apologize, I said that I didn’t mind, he kissed me again and I’m pretty sure I kissed him back. We just kept kissing for a little while and then we went to sleep.”  
“Just like that? You went from swapping spit to saying ‘goodnight’ just like that?”  
“Technically we said goodnight before we started kissing, but yeah,” Rae replied with a shrug.  
“So, what now?”  
“What do you mean?”  
“Are you and Finn together now or are you both wanting to act on the sexual tension that’s been building between the two of you since you first met?”  
“Sexual tension? What do you mean? Actually, it doesn’t matter. We haven’t talked about the kiss, actually. He was still very much asleep when I left to meet you for brunch, so that conversation will have to wait until a later time.”  
“Well I look forward to hearing how that conversation goes.”  
“I think I am looking forward to it too,” Rae replied with a small smile.  
“Stop me if I’m interpreting this all wrong, but you wouldn’t happen to still have a tiny crush on a certain boy named Finn Nelson, would you?”  
“No! No, of course not...probably not. Well, actually, I don’t know…”  
“Rae…”  
“I know, I know. You don’t have to have this whole discussion with me yet again,”  
“I just don’t want you and Finn to end up on different pages with what your relationship is and you end up getting hurt. Especially now that you two are living together and stuck in a lease until next summer.”  
“Trust me, Chloe, I know. And I am being careful. I just don’t want to get ahead of myself and make a big deal out of nothing. Finn had a lot to drink last night too, most likely more than I did, so who knows if he even remembers anything that happened.”  
“Maybe you’re right, Rae,” Chloe replied dropping the subject as soon as the food they had ordered was delivered by their waitress.  
Chloe and Rae continued enjoying their brunch and talking, being sure to avoid any mention of their previous topics of conversation.  
After they were done, Chloe gave Rae a ride back to her apartment and parked her car in the lot nearest to Rae’s apartment.  
“Thanks for joining me for brunch, Rae-Rae!”  
“It’s no problem, I’m glad that I got to see you before you leave. Even if that meant waking up early with a massive hangover,” Rae chuckled lightly.  
“I certainly owe you one,” Chloe responded before hesitating, “I also look forward to hearing how it goes when you talk to Finn about—”  
“Yeah, I’ll be sure to give you all the details,” Rae interrupted, “I gotta go make sure that Finn is awake and has taken Rocky for his walk or take him out myself, if not.”  
“Okay, well...tell Finn and Rocky that I say ‘hello’, I suppose” Chloe replied, worry clear in her voice as Rae stepped out of the car.  
“Relax, Chloe. I know you’re worried about me, but you don’t have to be. I doubt Finn remembers a thing, but even if he does, I can almost guarantee that it meant nothing to him!” Rae replied just before closing the door of Chloe’s car.  
“I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” Chloe muttered as the door shut and she watched Rae walking away from her car towards the stairs to get to her apartment.


	13. Chapter 13

A few seconds after Rocky—who was asleep at Rae’s feet while she lounged on the couch— lifted his head and began to look around there was a gentle knock on the front door.

“Good morning!” Rae called as she opened the door with Rocky trailing close behind.

“Hello, Rae,” Anna said as she pulled Rae into a hug and stepped inside the apartment when Rae opened the door fully to invite her in.

“How is your sister doing?” Rae asked when the pair both took a seat on the couch and Rocky jumped on the couch to sprawl out in the space between them.

“The doctor said that there were some potential causes for concern, so she was under observation for a few days, but the baby was born without any complications and both she and her baby boy are healthy, happy, and back at home as of Friday.”

“That’s great! I’m glad everything worked out,” Rae replied with a smile, “and congratulations on becoming an aunt!”

“I know! I can’t wait to spoil the kid whenever I see him!” Anna chuckled, “I hope Rocky hasn’t been too much of a burden on you. I know I didn’t give you much time to prepare for him to be here, but I appreciate that you were able to take care of him.

“It’s no problem, really,” Rae assured her as she brought her hand near Rocky’s face for him to lick and gently nibble on, “Rocky seems to have really taken a liking to both my roommate and I over the last couple weeks!”

“I’m so glad to hear that! Is you roommate here? I’ve heard so many good things and I’d love to formally meet them.”

“I’m actually supposed to meet my roommate at the cafe down the street from work for lunch in a little while,”

“Oh! Perfect, my house is on the way there anyways, so Rocky and I can keep you company and just walk home from there.”

“Alright! That sounds good, I’ll just need a few minutes to grab my shoes and gather up some of Rocky’s stuff that you gave me.”

When Rae returned from her bedroom with a tote bag full of toys, treats, and other items Anna had given her while she was watching Rocky the pair fastened the walking harness on Rocky and attached his leash before they all headed downstairs.

The weather was incredibly mild for November, so they decided to walk to the cafe and talk along the way.

“So…I seem to recall the two of us coming to a bit of an agreement a few months back,” Anna began with a cheeky grin.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, we agreed that first you needed to get your apartment and roommate situation sorted out and once you did that, you would allow me to set you up on a date and try to find you love.”

“Oh god, not that again, Anna! What is it with you and all my friends trying to get me to date or at least get laid?”

“Because we care about you, duh!”

“In either case, things are a bit…complicated…right now.”

“‘Complicated’ how, Rae?”

“Alright, so you’ve heard me talk a lot about my mates that I knew growing up and in college, right?”

“Yeah! Chloe, Izzy, Archie, Chop, and my personal favorite Finn! Right?”

“Exactly! Well they’re all basically my best friends, but a few days ago I think I did something that could mess up one of those friendships.”

“Did you make out with one of their boyfriends?” Anna asked with a gasp as the two stopped to let a car drive past before crossing the street.

“What? No! I kissed Finn.”

“You did?”

“Yeah…we were both drunk and we sort of made out a bit. I wanted to talk it over with him and figure out what he thought about it, but he’s been avoiding the subject and I haven’t found the right way to bring it up.”

“How do you feel about the kiss?”

“I mean, I used to have a massive crush on him but we’re really good mates now. I liked the kiss, I suppose, but I don’t want it to ruin our friendship or anything like that, ya know?”

“Yeah, that makes sense.”

“Hopefully I’ll be able to talk to him about it today when I see him.”

“So…is that a ‘yes’ or a ‘no’ to me setting you up with a friend of mine sometime soon?”

“It’s a firm maybe,” Rae replied with a sigh.

“That’s good enough for me! I’ll reach out to him and see when he’d be free to meet up. Now Rae, was that really so hard?”

“If it’ll get you off my back and make you happy to see me getting out and being social, then I’ll do just about anything to shut you up.” Rae quipped and stuck her tongue out at Anna in reply.

“Which reminds me, what’s the plan for your birthday, that’s coming up soon, right?”

“It’s in a bit over a week, yeah, but I don’t have any plans. I don’t really wanna do anything too crazy though. Just something small, maybe, with the gang.”

The pair continued talking about Rae’s plans for her birthday as they were nearing the small cafe Rae was going to lunch at when Anna stopped walking.

“Hey, so, am I going crazy or is that your mate Finn sitting outside the cafe right there?”

“Of course that’s him. I told you I was meeting him here for lunch!” Rae replied with a small chuckle as she kept walking.

“Wait! So you mean to tell me that Finn is your mate and your roommate?”

“Yeah, I thought you knew that!”

“No! I did not fucking know that! Oh my god…”

“What?”

“You made out with your roommate!”

“I’m aware,”

“Oh my god,”

“It’s not that big of a deal,”

“Oh my god,”

“Seriously, Anna. Relax”

“Oh my god, he’s waving at us!”

“Yeah, he’s a nice guy,”

“Oh my god, he’s hot!”

“Yeah, I know. Now, do you want to meet him and say ‘hi’ or not?”

“Of course I do!”

“Cool, now try not to gawk at him like you are now and I can introduce the two of you,” Rae chuckled as she walked ahead to the hostess desk at the entrance of the cafe and pointed towards the table on the patio where Finn was seated and waved Anna and Rocky to follow her inside.

Rae, Anna, and Rocky followed the hostess around the patio to the table where Finn was seated and Finn stood from his seat to give Rae a tight hug.

“Hiya, Rae! I just got you water for now because I wasn’t sure what you wanted to drink, but I haven’t ordered anything else yet,” Finn knelt down to pet Rocky but continued speaking, “I don’t think I’ve ever formally met you, but you must be Rocky’s owner.”

“Uh, yes?” Anna mumbled.

“Sorry, she’s a bit shy this morning,” Rae joked, “Finn, this is my friend from work that I told you about and we’ve been watching her puppy for the last week. Anna, this is my best mate and roommate.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Anna,” Finn said with a smile as both he and Rae sat down at the table, “you and Rocky are welcome to join Rae and I for lunch if you’d like to.”

“Oh, sorry, but we should get going. I live in this direction, so I wanted to walk with Rae on my way home after coming to pick up Rocky. It was great to finally meet you though, I’ve heard a lot about you…like a lot,” Anna laughed lightly.

“Alright, well if you ever need anyone to take Rocky off your hands for a little while, Rae and I would be happy to do it!” Finn added as Anna gave Rae a hug.

“I’ll remember that, thank you,” Anna replied politely before turning towards Rae and lowering her voice a bit, “I’ll text you a bit later today, alright? We still have a lot to talk about!”

Rae huffed and rolled her eyes but smiled as she waved goodbye to Anna and Rocky as they made their way to the exit of the patio area.

“I’m not sure that your friend Anna liked me very much,” Finn stated as he looked over the menu.

“Ah, don’t pay her too much mind. She’s lovely, just a bit…odd,” Rae chuckled before picking up her menu as well, “anyways, what are you thinking of ordering? I feel like there’s just way too many options to choose from!”

Finn laughed and agreed and the two continued looking over the menu and making small talk as they enjoyed their lunch together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no excuses as to why this chapter took so long to come together, but I am sorry that I’ve been MIA lately. Things in my life are still very crazy and turbulent and I feel like every second of spare time that I have is spent doing everything but writing, unfortunately, but I’m hoping to get better about posting weekly as things start to settle down a bit more for me closer to the end of June, so please stick it out with me.
> 
> Also: HAPPY PRIDE MONTH!!! ^_^


	14. Chapter 14

Fridays were always relatively easy days at work, especially considering that two new interns had joined them last week and it lightened their workload considerably, but since Anna and Rae had completed all of their assigned tasks for the day, they were given permission from their boss to relax for the rest of their shift as long as they remained at their desks in the event that any last minute tasks came up for them to complete.

“So…What are your plans tonight?” Anna asked as she rolled her desk chair closer to Rae’s desk while they chatted.

“Well, Finn mentioned us grabbing a drink to celebrate my birthday, but nothing too interesting. What about you?”

“I’m actually going to a friend’s surprise birthday party!”

“Oh wow! That sounds like it will be a lot of fun!”

“Yeah I think so too!”

When their shift was officially over, Rae and Anna walked to their cars and parted ways in much the same way that they did every day before they headed home.

Rae expected to Finn to already be home from work by the time she made it back to their apartment, since the Friday evening traffic was always just beginning to pick up as she was leaving work; however, she got home and realized that he was still not home, so she decided to take the spare time she had to change out of her work clothes and into something that felt more appropriate for a bar on a Friday evening.

She was nearly done putting the finishing touches on her makeup when Rae heard the front door unlock and Finn walk inside.

“Hello, is anybody home?” Finn sing-songed as he walked through the apartment.

“Yeah, I’m in my room just getting ready,” Rae called back.

“Perfect! I’m just gonna change my clothes really quickly and then we can head out if you’re ready as well.”

Rae was sitting on the couch in the living room when Finn walked down the hallway after changing his clothes as well.

“Are you just about ready to head out now?” Finn asked as he walked into the living room, stopping once Rae was in view.

“I’m ready whenever you are,” Rae replied as she stood from the couch, “Why’re ya staring at me?”

Knowing that today was her birthday and she rarely got dressed up, Rae decided to wear her favorite pair of black leggings that made her legs look particularly good paired with a semi-sheer long-sleeved polka dot crop top. To complete the outfit and keep her from getting too cold while they walked outside, Rae also was wearing her go-to black leather jacket and matching ankle boots with a small heel.

“I know you asked what you should wear tonight and I suggested ‘something kinda nice’, but bloody hell Rae,” Finn replied with a low whistle, “you look spectacular!”

“Oh, fuck off! We both know you’re just flattering me because I’m the birthday girl,” Rae joked.

“No, I mean it. You look fantastic!”

“Well, thank you! Are we going to head out anytime soon, or do you just plan on standing here and gawking at me all night?”

“As much as I’d love to choose the latter, I did promise to take you out for your birthday and I’d hate to break my promise to ya,” Finn replied with a smirk as he grabbed his car keys and the pair headed out of the apartment together.

Finn parked a short distance away from the bar and they walked together to their destination. Rae and Finn walked past the usual bar they go to for a quick drink, but Rae continued following where Finn was leading them until they ended up at a nondescript building with a sign on the outside that said “Ivory Piano Bar”

Rae gave Finn a confused look and he simply shrugged, “I thought we’d go somewhere new today. It can be hard to get into this place but I know a guy and he pulled some strings for us.”

“Name please,” a tall man at the entrance of the building stated when Finn and Rae got to the door.

“Finn Nelson.”

“Perfect, you two can head inside!”

Finn reached for Rae’s hand and she took it, allowing him to guide her through the building. Rae could hear someone on a piano warming up and more people shuffling inside, but it was still much less hectic than a typical bar. In the far back of the bar, there were a few sections roped off with a sign that read “RESERVED” but as Finn approached the section in the middle, he simply moved the rope aside so they could pass before replacing it.

“Wow, we’re in the VIP section? You really went all out, huh?” Rae asked as she turned around to face Finn.

“You could say that. But this isn’t even the best part,” Finn replied as he placed his hand on her shoulders and prompted her to turn around.

“What the…what are you all doing here?” Rae asked in surprise when she turned around to see all of the gang and some of her coworkers gathered around a few tables and booths in the reserved section.

“Surprise!” They all called in unison and Rae’s jaw dropped when the realization sunk in.

“This…this is all for me?” Rae muttered in awe as she looked at a few dozen of her closest friends drinking and greeting her.

“Of course it is,” Finn replied as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders to lead her forward and gave her a peck on the cheek, “happy birthday, girl!”

Finn went to the bar to grab him and Rae a drink and Rae began to work her way around the tables to greet all of her friends that came out to celebrate

“Rae! Happy birthday!” Izzy called out as Rae walked up to the high-top table most of the gang was gathered around.

“Thank you! God…I can’t believe you’re all here and you guys surprised me like this.”

“Were you really surprised or where you just faking it?”

“Izz, remember when we took that drama class together in college? Yeah, well, we both know that I’m not nearly a good enough actress to pretend that I’m surprised!” Rae joked.

“Uh, excuse me dear, but you’re blocking my chair!”

Rae turned around quickly at the familiar voice and pulled her best mate into a tight hug.

“Chlo! What the fuck are ya doing here and not in New York?”

“Do ya really think I’d miss my best mate’s birthday for the first time in over a decade just because I’m out of town for work?” Chloe scoffed, “My meeting on Monday got pushed to Wednesday, so I decided to head home for the weekend so I could be here for your party!”

Rae stood beside the table talking to Archie and Chop when she heard someone calling her name behind her.

“Well, it appears that the birthday girl is being beaconed, but I’ll check in with you lot in a bit, yeah?”

Rae went to a different table a short distance away where she could see Anna sitting and waving her over.

“Anna! What are you doing here?”

“I told you I was going to a friend’s surprise birthday party! Didn’t I?”

“I suppose you did, huh? Whose idea was all of this?”

“Finn’s, I think. Or at least he was the one that invited me,” Anna replied.

Rae looked across the room where Finn stood at the bar waiting for the gang’s next round of drinks and when the two locked eyes, he smiled widely at her.

“I know that tonight’s your birthday party and it should be all about you, but I actually brought a friend of mine that I’d really like you to meet,”

“Seriously, Anna? Please tell me you’re not trying to set me up with someone at my own surprise party!”

“I just want you two to meet. I’m not gonna force anything, but at least chat for a bit. I think you two would really get along!”

“Fine, bring him over, I guess. We might as well get this over as soon as we can,” Rae huffed.

“That’s the spirit!” Anna turned and beaconed her friend that was standing at the bar to come forward and join them.

Rae tried to contain her reaction when a tall, considerably attractive handsome man approached them.

“Hey! Henry, this is my mate from work that I was telling you about.”

“Hi, I’m Henry,” he replied casually as he reached out to shake Rae’s hand.

“Hopefully Anna has told you nothing but good things about me,” she chuckled, “My name is Rachel, but most people call me ‘Rae’”

“I like ‘Rae’,” Henry said with a small smile, “and it’s nice to finally meet you.”

“Well, I’m just gonna give you two crazy kids a chance to chat for a bit, but I’ll check in with both of you later,” Anna replied with a wink.

“I just want to start off by apologizing for crashing your surprise party. Anna mentioned that we were going to a party but I didn’t know the details until you got here and everyone yelled ‘surprise’,” Henry began with an embarrassed chuckle when Anna was a reasonable distance away.

“No need to apologize. So, how do you know Anna?”

“From work as well, actually. I’m in the HR department, but our schedules line up well and we see each other on all our breaks and at lunch most of the time. After a while of noticing the pattern, we actually started talking and eating together.”

“That’s so crazy! I have no clue how I’ve never seen you around the office before,” Rae mused.

“It’s a pretty big office, so I can’t really blame you.”

The pair continued talking and getting to know each other over drinks for a while before Rae excused herself to go to the toilet.

Luckily, the line to the Ladies room was short, but she happened to run into Chloe while they both washed their hands.

“How are you liking the party thus far?”

“I’m having a lot of fun. I’m honestly still in shock that you all were planning this behind my back,” Rae laughed

“To be fair, I’ve only been keeping the secret for about a week or two,” Chloe said as the pair walked out and worked their way back over to the reserved section they were seated in, “Finn was the one who really started planning all of this and pulled the strings to get us a reserved section and whatnot well over a month ago.”

“Wow…I don’t even know what to say…” Rae muttered when she noticed Finn standing at a table with Chop and Archie talking and laughing.

“How are things between you two, by the way? I never got the play-by-play of your conversation with him that you had promised me!”

“There’s really not much to tell, honestly,” Rae shrugged.

“Bullshit! You don’t simply get past making out with your roommate-slash-long time best mate without having a proper conversation.”

“We talked but it wasn’t anything major, Finn and I are…”

“You and I are what exactly?” Finn chimes in as he approached the bar Rae and Chloe were standing at.

“Oh, Rae here was just telling me about how after the two of you got drunk and made out you had a talk about it to make sure that you both were on the same page,” Chloe said nonchalantly as she stared directly at Rae.

“Oh, yeah, we talked about what happened and there’s no weirdness between us.” Finn replied simply.

“Yeah, we’re still friends like we were before,” Rae added.

“Yup…just friends,” Finn replied with a tight-lipped smile.

“Hmm, I see. Well I promised I’d bring Izzy a new drink, so I better get this over to her.” Chloe replied as she grabbed the drink off the bar counter and left Rae and Finn standing alone together.

“Sorry about that. I told Chlo about the night we kissed and she’s been pressing me for details and an update since then,” Rae huffed.

“No problem. If I wasn’t concerned about the lecture both you and I would get from him if he knew about the kiss, I likely would have told Archie a while ago too,” Finn replied.

“Oh! There you are, Rae…wait, I’m not interrupting anything, am I?” Henry began as he approached the pair standing near the bar.

“No, we were just chatting.”

“Oh, alright,” Henry sighed in relief as he turned towards Finn, “I’m Henry, by the way.”

“Ah, yes! How rude of me! Henry, this is my best mate and roommate, Finn.”

“Nice to meet you,” Finn said as the two shook hands.

“I didn’t mean to intrude on your conversation here, Rae, but Anna was looking for you earlier so you might wanna check in with her soon so she doesn’t think you skipped out on your own party just to avoid talking to me,” Henry chuckled.

“Anna would jump to that conclusion, wouldn’t she?” Rae scoffed.

“Don’t worry about it, Rae. Go find Anna,” Finn chuckled.

“I probably should, huh? I’ll see you later then, Finn,” she replied before turning to face Henry, “do you mind taking me to where you last saw Anna?”

When Henry and Rae approached Anna together, she looked pleased with herself and her smile grew as the three of them kept chatting.

“Well, I should probably get home so I can check on Rocky and put him to bed,” Anna said as some of the people who had come to the party began saying their goodbyes and leaving and the party continued to wind down.

“Alright, I’ll see you at work on Monday,” Rae said as she gave Anna a hug.

“I should be heading out as well, I think,” Henry added shortly after Anna had left.

“Alright, I’ll walk you to your car,” Rae said as she stood from her chair.

Rae and Henry walked leisurely through the parking lot side-by-side, continuing a conversation that they had started earlier that night.

“It was really nice meeting you and getting to know you a bit better,” Henry replied when they stopped beside a dark green truck, “and I still feel a bit bad for crashing your birthday party and not having a gift of any kind.”

“I really enjoyed talking to you as well. And don’t worry about it.”

“I’d like to make it up to you, Rae, if that’s alright with you. Can I see you again sometime?” Henry asked with a small smile.

“I’d really like that. Here, give me your number and I’ll send you a text so you have mine too and then we can make plans to meet up again,” Rae said as she handed Henry her phone for him to add his number.

“There you go! Have a nice night,” Henry said as he gave Rae her phone back after inputting his number and climbed into the driver’s seat of his truck, “and Happy Birthday, Rae!”

Rae waited for Henry to drive off before she walked back to the entrance of the bar where she saw Finn waiting for her.

“You ready to go home?” Finn asked when Rae walked up to him and nodded before pulling him into a tight hug.

“Thank you for planning all of this. I know I kept saying that I didn’t wanna do anything for my birthday, but this was better than anything I could have imagined.”

“You’re welcome, love. I’m just glad that you had a good time!” Finn replied as he placed a kiss on the crown of her head.

Finn wrapped an arm around Rae when they released from the hug and the pair walked to Finn’s car together while recapping some of their favorite moments from the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey y'all! Here's a couple fun facts about some of the details of this chapter:  
> 1) Rae’s surprise party is based on a combination of my own surprise birthday party that a big group of my friends threw me for my 21st birthday and my experience at a dueling piano bar that I went to when I went to California a few months ago.   
> 2) Henry is named after a guy that I met at a party I went to this past Friday, went to a few bars with immediately afterwards, and he ended up coming back to my apartment to play with my puppy for like an hour at 3am
> 
> I don't say this nearly enough, but thank you to all of you that have left kudos on this work and/or left me comments on any of the chapters that have been posted thus far! :)


	15. Chapter 15

Monday morning when Rae walked into the office, she was surprised to see Anna sitting in the chair at her desk, idly rearranging the various pens and pencils that were in an empty coffee mug beside Rae’s computer.

“Uh…good morning,” Rae said as she set her phone and purse down on her desk, “you’re here early. Why?”

“I suppose,” Anna shrugged as she stood up from Rae’s chair and took a seat on an empty corner of the desk to allow Rae to sit down at her desk, “I hoped to catch you before work to have a bit of a chat. You’re usually not one to be walking into work right when your shift is supposed to begin.”

“What can I say? I’ve learned from the best,” Rae chuckled as she began to log into her computer to make up for getting to work later than she usually would.

“Dave isn’t even in the office for a few more hours. Does it really even matter if I show up a few minutes late here and there?” Anna shrugged.

“Happy Monday!” Henry sing-songed with a wide smile as he came around the corner from Rae and Anna’s shared cubicle.

“Ugh, why must you always be so cheerful,” Anna scoffed which earned herself a sarcastic smile.

“Morning, Henry,” Rae said when Henry leaned against the side of her desk and set down the paper bag and cardboard drink carrier he had been carrying.

“It’s good to see you again, Rae! I stopped by the cafe down the street on my way to work this morning and grabbed you some coffee.”

“You did? That’s really nice of you!” Rae said as she reached for the cup of coffee with her name scrawled on it and took a small sip.

“I hope you like the coffee,” Henry replied with a smile when Rae hummed happily after tasting her coffee. “I also grabbed a couple pastries, if you’d like one. There should be an almond biscotti and a lemon-blueberry muffin,” he added as he passed Rae the paper bag.

“Mmm, I love blueberry muffins! Thank you,” Rae said as she placed the muffin on a napkin beside her cup of coffee and handed Henry the bag back.

“I should probably get to work now, but I’ll talk to you later, Rae. See ya, later, Anna!” Henry called over his shoulder as he walked away from their desks.

“So, are you going to explain to me what just happened or are you gonna make me ask you?” Anna asked without turning away from her own computer as she continued getting logged in.

“I have no idea what you’re referring to,” Rae replied coyly as she took a sip of her coffee.

“Well, we can start with that! You’re the pickiest person I’ve ever met when it comes to how your coffee is made. How does he know how you take your coffee?”

“It’s simple, he asked me.”

“Uh-huh,” Anna replied skeptically.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Oh, I don’t know! Maybe the fact that on Friday evening I introduced you to Henry, practically against your will too might I add, and now you two are all buddy-buddy.”

“Yeah, I mean...I really didn’t wanna talk to him initially but then once I stopped being a dickhead, I realized he was a pretty cool guy,” Rae shrugged.

“I knew you two would get on well!” Anna replied excitedly as she turned around in her chair to face Rae, “What else happened between you two? I want to know everything!”

“Well, shortly after you left the bar on Friday Henry decided to leave too. I did the chivalrous thing and escorted him to his car and we exchanged numbers.”

“Oooh! Look at you! I’m so proud of you! Is that all or…?” Anna asked with a quirked eyebrow.

“Well…we’ve been texting and we grabbed dinner and a movie Saturday,”

“Oh!”

“...and we also met up for brunch yesterday.”

“Rae!” Anna said as she gasped, “that’s great! It looks like the two of you really hit it off, huh?”

“Yeah, he’s fun to be around.”

“You’re welcome, by the way, since I introduced the two of you.”

“I know, I know. I’m glad that you made me talk to him the other night.”

“What can I say? I have a knack for matchmaking! Are you two going to go out again soon?”

“Maybe, yeah...I dunno. We’re just trying to get to know each other for now, so I don’t know where this could go, but I’m alright with that.”

“I guess that makes sense. I really do hope you two continue to see each other, though. I’m tired of hearing Henry pine over you every day in the break room during lunch and I’m tired of hearing about your love life—or lack thereof.”

“Oh, fuck off! He has not been pining over me!” Rae scoffed as she playfully threw the cap of her pen across the cubicle at Anna.

“I’m serious! I’ve been telling him so much about you these last couple months that it was only a matter of time before the two of you finally met in-person!”

“And yet you never told me a single thing about him until moments before we were introduced!”

“In my defense, I have two years of friendship with you as evidence that if I mentioned anything about him and tried to make it seem like I was setting the two of you up, you’d do everything in your power to fight me on it and sabotage my plan.”

“I suppose you’re not wrong,” Rae replied with a laugh.

Rae had already gotten started with her daily tasks for the day when she noticed that Anna was still leaning her elbow on her desk with her chin resting on her palm, staring at Rae.

“What...why are ya staring at me?”

“I don’t know. You seem different,” Anna mused.

“Different? ‘Different’ how?”

“I’m not sure…” Anna said as she wheeled her chair back in front of her own desk while she continued to find the right way to phrase her thoughts.

“I guess you just seem sorta happy.”


	16. Chapter 16

Rae walked through the door to the pub and scanned the crowd, unsurprised to see all of her mates sitting at the long table on the opposite side of the room.  
“Next time I have to go to New York for work, Izz, I promise that I’ll take you with me in my carry-on bag,” Chloe joked.  
“You better! I’m going to hold you to your promise,” Izzy giggled before looking over and noticing Rae approaching their table, “Rae! There ya are!”  
Rae made her way around the table greeting the gang individually before pulling out the only empty seat at the table and taking her seat in her usual spot next to Finn.  
“Nice of you to finally join us,” Finn replied with a smirk as he slid the drink he had ordered for her in front of where she sat.  
“Yeah, sorry about that. I got caught up finishing a project at work that my boss needed for a meeting tomorrow morning, so it needed to get done.” She replied with a long sigh before taking a sip from the glass.   
With Chloe on her business trip for the past month and the gang’s hectic schedules, it had been hard to arrange a time for them all to meet up, but they were finally able to meet up tonight for the first time since Rae’s birthday and they all had a lot to catch each other up on.  
“Hey, so I know that it’s usually just the gang when we meet up at the pub like this,” Rae began when there was a lull in the conversation as she typed out a message on her cell phone, “but I invited Henry to join us at the pub tonight. He just texted me that he’s here, so just please...try to be on your best behavior, yeah?”  
The gang’s reactions varied from laughs to scoffs of mock offense, but by the time the gang saw Henry approaching their table, the conversation had already shifted to other topics.  
“Hiya! I hope Rae let you know that I’d be joining you all, or this might be a bit awkward,” Henry joked as he approached the table, “I think I’ve met all of you before, at Rae’s surprise party, but my name is Henry!”  
“Of course, mate! It’s good to see ya again. Go ahead and pull up a chair from the empty table next to us, it’s not like they’re gonna miss it!” Chop replied cheerily.  
Henry grabbed a chair from a nearby table and slid it next to Rae as the rest of the table moved their chairs to make space for him.  
“Thanks for inviting me, Rae,” Henry replied as he leaned over to give her a peck on the cheek.  
“It’s good to see you again, Finn. How’s it going?” he asked casually.  
“Fine,” Finn mumbled disinterestedly as he sipped his drink.  
“Uh, cool. That’s good...Alright, well, I think I’m gonna go to the bar to get a drink,” Henry said as he stood from his chair, “Actually, this round of drinks is on me for letting me crash your plans tonight. Who wants a drink?”  
“I’m fine, thanks.”  
“I still have most of my drink.”  
“That’s sweet of you to offer, but no thank you.”  
The gang replied, politely declining.  
“And you? Did you want another drink, Rae? I can get you another one of…” Henry trailed off as he nodded towards her nearly full glass.  
“I think I’d like a different drink, actually. I’ll take a vodka soda, please. Thank you!”  
“Sure thing. I’ll be right back with that drink,” Henry replied with a smile as he rested a hand on Rae’s shoulder briefly before walking towards the bar.  
Once Henry was out of earshot, Finn looked over at Rae and scoffed before finishing the last of his beer in a single gulp.  
“What’s that look for?” Rae asked quietly as the rest of the gang continued talking amongst themselves.  
“You ordered a vodka soda? Really? Really?” Finn replied.  
“Yes, I did. What’s wrong with that?” Rae asked bluntly.  
“I dunno. I’ve never really seen you as much of ‘vodka soda’ type of girl.” Finn shrugged.  
“What’s that supposed to mean?”  
“Vodka sodas are a very Chloe-type of drink. When did you start drinking them?”  
“Henry recommended them to me when I wanted to try something new at my surprise party a few weeks back. I actually really like them. Is that alright with you, Finn?”  
“Whatever. You can drink whatever you want,” Finn mumbled as Henry approached the table with a drink in each hand.  
“Here’s your drink, Rae,” Henry said with a smile as he set the glass of clear liquid down on the table in front of her after she pushed her previous drink away, “Oh! I didn’t realize that you needed another drink, Finn. I would have grabbed you another while I was at the bar!”  
“It’s fine. I can get my own drink,” Finn replied curtly as he stood from the table and walked over to the bar.  
The rest of the evening passed by quickly and despite Rae’s initial concerns about how the gang would react to her inviting Henry to join them, nearly all of them welcomed him easily; however, after returning from the bar, Finn kept to himself and only spoke when directly spoken to, visibly counting down the minutes until he could leave the pub.  
“Alright, well, it’s getting late and I should probably get going now,” Henry stated after he finished his most recent drink, “It was so great seeing you all again. Thank you for letting me join you all tonight!”  
The gang replied happily that he was welcome any time and wishing him a nice night as he stood from the table.  
“I’ll go ahead and walk you to your truck,” Rae added as she stood from her chair and followed Henry out of the pub.  
“I had a lot of fun. Thanks for inviting me, Rae!” Henry replied as the two walked leisurely through the parking lot.  
“Yeah, no problem. I’m glad I was still able to see you tonight.”  
“The gang is really nice,” Henry began before pausing to consider his next words, “Did I do something to make Finn dislike me?”  
“I, uh, don’t know, to be honest. He can be a little shy and gets a bad rep for being a bit of a grumpy sod for it, but I don’t know what’s up with him tonight. Please don’t take it to heart though, I’m sure it’s nothing personal,” Rae assured him.  
When they reached his truck, the pair stood in silence for a moment.  
“Well, I had a really good time tonight. Get home safe!” Rae said as she wrapped her arms around Henry.  
“You get home safe too. I’ll talk to you tomorrow and maybe we can make plans for later this weekend, yeah? Good night,” Henry added sweetly as he returned the hug.  
As they began to pull away from their embrace, Henry leaned forward and pressed his lips against Rae’s briefly, giving her a chaste but sweet kiss.  
“Rae, there you are—oh! Um, I’m sorry,” Finn apologized as he walked around the side of Henry’s car and saw Rae and Henry kissing.  
“Finn! Uh, what are ya—”  
“You left your phone on the table. I wanted to give it back to you. Sorry for, uh, interrupting.” Finn replied hurriedly as he handed Rae her phone and walked away quickly.  
“Uh, that was weird...I’m sorry. I’m gonna go now, but have a nice night, Henry. I’ll talk to ya later.” Rae replied in embarrassment before turning around and walking back towards the pub.  
After looking inside the pub for Finn and letting the gang know that she was going to head back home as well, Rae went back out to the parking lot only to find that Finn’s car was no longer parked a few spaces down from her car.  
Rae drove home and expected to see Finn’s car in its usual space, since he left the pub shortly before she did, but the space was still unoccupied.  
Rae took the lift up to their apartment on the fifth floor, entering the empty apartment and half expecting Finn to be inside waiting for her. After turning on the lamp in the hallway so she could see where she was going inside her apartment, Rae flipped the switch to turn on the light out front so it would not be dark outside whenever Finn made it home.  
Exhausted from the long day at work followed by an evening out with the gang, Rae went straight to her bedroom and got ready for bed, checking the notifications on her phone one last time to make sure she hadn’t missed anything from Finn before setting her phone on her bedside table and trying to fall asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know that I'm not the best about updating this story very regularly, but I just wanted to take a second to take all of you that have left kudos on here and/or have left me comments on previous chapters. It really does mean a lot to me!


	17. Chapter 17

Rae and Henry stepped out of the lift in Rae’s apartment building and walked together through the parking lot towards where Henry’s truck was parked.  
“Thank you for coming over on such short notice today. I really appreciate it!”  
“It’s no trouble, really. I had fun!”  
Rae looked over her shoulder and noticed a familiar car driving up and parking a few spaces down from Henry’s truck.  
Finn turned off his car and took the keys out of the ignition before stepping out of the car. When he looked up and saw Rae and Henry standing a short distance away, he smiled politely in response to Henry’s waved greeting.  
“Well, I’m meeting my mum for tea later today and I have a long drive ahead of me, so I should probably get going now,” Henry replied as he gave Rae a quick kiss on the cheek and climbed into his truck.  
“Say ‘hi’ to your mum for me. I’ll talk to ya later, yeah?” Rae replied just before waving goodbye to Henry as he drove out of the parking lot.  
“Hiya, Finn!” Rae called out as she walked towards where he stood beside his car as he slung the strap of his bag across his shoulders.  
“Hey, Rae. How are you?”  
“Doing well, I suppose. How was work today?” Rae asked as the pair walked together towards the lift to get up to their shared apartment.  
“Well, I got called in to work at five in the morning on a Saturday. I didn’t want to be a work today, obviously, but it was alright I suppose.” He added with a shrug as they stepped into the lift and pressed the shiny metal button to take them up to the fifth floor of the building.  
“I have a surprise for you!” Rae said excitedly after a few silent moments passed between them.  
“A what—A surprise? What for?” Finn guffawed.  
“Yeah, a surprise! I don’t wanna spoil it for you, so you’ll just have to wait and see,” Rae replied with a smirk.  
“Uh, alright…”  
Rae sped up to walk slightly in front of Finn and as soon as they reached the door to their apartment, she stopped and turned on her heels to face Finn.  
“Now before I let you inside, close your eyes and don’t open them until I ask you to. Please!”  
“Alright,” Finn huffed quietly before doing as he was told.  
Rae turned back around and unlocked the door, casting a quick glance over her shoulder to make sure that Finn’s eyes were still closed, before pushing the door open.  
“I’m gonna lead you into the apartment now, but remember, no peeking!” Rae sing-songed as she grabbed one of Finn’s hands to guide him into the apartment.  
After closing the door behind them, Rae continued to lead Finn by the hand into their living room before stopping and letting go of his hand.  
“Okay! You can open your eyes now!” Rae said with poorly contained excitement clear in her voice.  
Finn opened his eyes slowly and allowed them to adjust before actually noticing in the surprise Rae had for him.  
“Surprise!” Rae cheered when Finn had not said anything or showed any reaction for a few seconds.  
“Rae…Is this really a—” Finn gasped as he approached the tall tree positioned in one corner of the room.  
“A massive Christmas tree?” Rae added, finishing Finn’s question for him, “Why, yes. Yes, it is.”  
Finn stood in front of the Christmas tree that was lush and quite a bit taller than he was, admiring the tree while Rae continued talking.  
“This why I asked Henry to come over earlier today. I needed his truck to drive the tree across town and to help me carry the tree into the apartment and get it all set up.”  
“It was nice of him to help. But, why?” Finn asked as he gestured silently towards the tree.  
“I know that Christmas time is always a bit tough for you because it was your Nan’s favorite time of year and this is your first Christmas living away from your Da, but I thought that we could at least make it feel a bit more like Christmas in here. If you want to of course.”  
“Rae...I don’t even know what to say…” Finn muttered.  
“Well, you could say that you love it and don’t think this was a shit surprise to come home to after a long day at work,” Rae replied with an uneasy chuckle.  
“Rae, I love it. It’s perfect, really. Thank you,” Finn replied with a smile as he pulled Rae into a tight hug.  
“I’m just glad that you like it.” Rae added with a smile, “What do you say we turn on some Christmas music, light the fireplace, and decorate the tree to start making this place feel a bit more festive, yeah?”  
“Sounds good to me. I’ll put on the music if you wanna get the fire going,” Finn said as he went to his bedroom to get his collection of holiday music records.  
When Finn walked back into the living room and turned on the record player they had set up on one side of the room, Rae had already got the fireplace started and was sitting cross-legged on the floor in front of the tree beginning to sort through the chaotic mess of Christmas decorations that she had saved from previous years in which she had decorated.  
When Finn got the record started and a man’s voice began streaming from the speakers, he joined Rae on the floor and helped her sort through the various boxes.  
“What record did you decide on?”  
“Uh, it’s Bing Crosby.” Finn mumbled, “His Christmas record was my Nan’s favorite thing to listen to every year.”  
Rae smiled at Finn and hummed gently as she kept sorting.  
“It’s sort of crazy…”  
“What is?”  
“The smell of the Christmas tree...it reminds me so much of how my Nan’s house smelled every December when we’d spend Christmas together as a family. My Da always thought using real trees were too much hassle and too messy, so he just had an artificial tree that we’d decorate every year, but it’s not the same. This is the first time I’ve decorated a real Christmas tree since the year before Nan…” Finn trailed off with a sad smile. “It’s nice.”  
“Well, I’m glad that you like it,” Rae replied as she passed Finn a knotted string of lights for him to untangle.  
The pair continued to decorate the Christmas tree and scatter the various remaining decorations around their apartment to make it feel more festive until Rae set aside a nearly empty box of decorations that she had been working her way through.  
“I bet you’re starving, huh?” Rae asked as she glanced down at and set aside her mug of tea had had grown cold while they decorated, “I can go ahead and start cooking something for us.”  
“I think we’ve decorated enough for now. I’ll help you cook!”  
“You don’t have to do that, Finn. Just relax and I’ll let you know when the food is ready.”  
“Don’t worry about it. I want to help,” Finn replied as he reached forward and brushed his fingers through the hair covering Rae’s right ear.  
Finn chuckled lightly at the look of surprise on Rae’s face before holding up something shiny.  
“You had some tinsel stuck in your hair, but I got it for ya!”  
Finn let Rae lead the way towards the kitchen and stood beside the counter as he waited for Rae to decide what she wanted to cook.  
“How does pasta sound? I haven’t had Italian food in a while and it’s pretty quick and easy to make,” Rae asked as she looked through the fridge to find all the ingredients they may need.  
“Sounds great! I’ll get a pot of water started for the pasta,” Finn replied as he stepped around Rae to get the large pot off the shelf.  
When the pasta was boiling and Rae put the simple marinara sauce she made on the stove to simmer, the two got started on preparing a salad and garlic bread to eat along with their meal.  
“So...you and Henry, huh?” Finn began awkwardly as he rinsed the greens for the salad before adding them to a large bowl, “How’s that, uh, going?”  
“You’re really asking me about how my relationship with Henry is going?” Rae asked with a small laugh as she mixed together a basic vinaigrette for the salad.  
Finn kept alternating between prepping the fresh vegetables and adding them to the salad bowl, waiting for Rae to speak.  
“Uh, it’s going well. I think we get along well. I like spending time with him,” Rae shrugged.  
“Do you love him?” Finn asked as he began to toss together the salad.  
“I, uh--I dunno,” Rae paused briefly while grabbing two plates from the cabinet and turning to face the stove while serving each of them some pasta.  
Finn pulled the garlic bread from the oven and followed shortly behind Rae as she put their plates on the table before Rae spoke again.  
“No, I guess not. We’re just having fun together, for now at least. We like being around each other, but I wouldn’t call it love.”  
“I see,” Finn replied, allowing the topic to be dropped.  
“Go ahead and sit down, I’ll grab the salad and something to drink,” Rae said as she waved off his attempt to keep helping her.  
When Rae walked back to the table carrying the large bowl of salad in one hand and a bottle of wine and two glasses in the other, Finn smiled and set aside his cell phone to help pour their glasses of wine.  
“You seem quite interested in your phone tonight,” Rae commented before taking another bite of her pasta after Finn checked his phone for the umpteenth time.  
“Oh, uh, yeah. I suppose,” Finn replied with a chuckle.  
“Who are you texting? Or who’s texting you that has you all flustered like this?”  
“I’m not flustered! I’m just—I’m texting a friend, well, an acquaintance really…”  
“What’s her name?”  
“I never said it was a girl!”  
“Ya didn’t have to. You’re my best mate, Finnley, I can recognize that look you get when you’re flustered or talking to a girl you like pretty well by now. So who is she?”  
“Uh, she’s a client. I was able to help her out last week and she said that she wanted to buy me coffee as thanks.”  
“Oh? You really do take ‘good customer service’ to a new level at your job, huh?” Rae joked.  
“Trust me, I tried to make sure she knew that she didn’t owe me coffee or anything and that I was just doing my job, but she was persistent. We got coffee a couple days later and have been texting off and on since then.”  
“Huh, I see,” Rae said as she took a sip of her wine, “You should take her out on a proper date. If you like her and want to see her again, that is.”  
“You think so? I guess it was kinda nice to go on a date, even if it was a bit of an informal date. Maybe I will ask her out for dinner or something…” Finn trailed off as he reached for his phone.  
“So, do you have any plans for Christmas in a few weeks?” Rae asked when the conversation had lulled.  
“Uh, my work gave us the whole week of Christmas off of work, so I’ll have a bit of a break to enjoy my holiday. I’m meeting my Da for dinner the weekend before Christmas to celebrate early, since he is going on a ‘lads ski trip’ with some of his old mates from Uni, but on Christmas Day I don’t have any plans that I know of. What about you?”  
“My office gets really busy around the holidays so I’m back at work the day after Christmas, but they are throwing a massive company Christmas party the Friday prior to Christmas, so that should be fun. My mum and sister are going back to Tunisia with Karim for two weeks, so I’ll just spend Christmas here, most likely.” Rae added with a small smile.  
“Maybe we could spend Christmas together?” Finn suggested, “We could just have a relaxed night in, or something, but at least we’d be keeping each other company and celebrating a little bit, right?”  
“Yeah, that sounds really nice, actually. I’d like that!”  
When they had both finished eating, Finn helped Rae wash and put away the dishes they used to make it faster.  
When they were done, Rae grabbed the opened bottle of wine and divided the last of it between both of their glasses and handed Finn his glass before walking over to the couch.  
The pair assumed their usual couch positions with Rae lightly resting her feet across Finn’s lap.  
“This is nice,” Rae muttered as she sipped her wine, idly watching the fireplace burning while the old Christmas records continued playing in the background.  
“It really is nice. I, uh, wasn’t sure what to expect from this Christmas because everything has changed, but this,” Finn said as he gestured around the room at the decorations they had spent hours putting up, “this makes things feel a bit more like how Christmas should feel.”  
“I’m so glad. It was the least I could do, really. Plus I love the way that all these decorations bring new life to our apartment!”  
“I agree. I also think that Nan would have loved it,” Finn mused with a gentle smile.  
“I know that she would have,” Rae added as she settled further into the couch to get comfortable as she continued sipping her glass of wine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Long time no see, y'all. I don't have a very good excuse for not writing/posting lately other than just getting caught up in real life BS and somehow nearly 2 months passed! Crazy!
> 
> I think I'm also gonna post one of my older stories/WIPs that I started about a year ago on my Tumblr here on AO3 and also post the last chapter that I never decided to post, so fingers-crossed that I'll keep posting regularly between the two stories over the next few weeks!


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